[libreoffice-users] Re: Where to store a simple database?

Am 14.09.2012 19:03, John Clegg wrote:
> Whilst your answer is no doubt rigorous it lacks a little in the
> helpfulness class!
>
> You have explained many times before that base is not a database and
> embedded hsql is evil. You haven't really explained why in either case, but
> then I am much the same in declaiming Apple as the evil empire.

Here we go again.
Base with its embedded HSQLDB is known to destroy data beyond recovery 
because the embedded database behaves more like an add-on. Seemingly you 
"open" a "database document". In fact you extract a package, install 
your HSQL database into a temporary directory and connect the office 
suite to the newly installed database. When you "close" the "database 
document" the database connection closes and the whole bundle gets 
repackaged again. When any process in this office suite has a hick-up 
while you install/uninstall the bundled database, the database goes to 
the binary trash can (preferably this happens due to a crash in form 
design mode). And as a matter of course, any version of HSQL is a 
database engine entirely written in Java.
Working with embedded HSQL is slow, insecure, unsafe, it is limited to 
HSQL 1.8, it is limited to almighty single user access from this 
particular application only. It is a caricature of a database.
With a tiny little bit of extra effort you set up a real database (say 
HSQLDB 2), connect a Base document to it and have a fast, reliable, full 
featured database up and running. Of course, this tiny little bit of 
extra effort is development work as you might know from MySQL.
Your database is HSQLDB, MySQL or whatever and you access it from you 
beloved office suite through a bridge called "Base", from your browser, 
from your scripts, from anywhere with all the security and safety of a 
mature database software. No matter what happens to Calc, Writer, 
Impress, your database will not be harmed.

You write about a "simple database" and describe one table with 33 
fields. Have you tried a dBase directory on your remote drive?
One directory, one .dbf file for the table and may be some indices for 
fast access.
Plain text is fine. HSQL and MySQL can edit linked plain text tables.
I don't see any reason why not using MySQL for a tiny table. The amount 
of work is far less than writing all this shit into the list.



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