I know flat files are not meant for this kind of scenario bu...

[Ricardo Lara]

I know flat files are not meant for this kind of scenario but I would like to know if there is a way to have multiple concurrent users reading/updating a flat file. I didnt have any issues with just a few users using the form, but when more users began working with it, we lost a bunch of records. What I would like to know is if there is a way to lock/unlock the file while reading or writing, or any other advise would be greatly appreciated.

A colleague told me about the MATCH - MODIFY FILE command but I couldnt find detailed information about it.

Thanks in advance.

Ricardo

[David Beagan]

I dont think you can have multiple users updating a flat file at the same time. I dont think MATCH or MODIFY would help with this.

For that matter, how is a single user able to update the flat file I suppose a user could keep appending records to the flat file.

Why not use a relational database

[Warren Hinchliffe]

You need to have it in a DB or in a FOCUS file accessed from a sync machine (FOCUS_SU).

[Ricardo Lara]

Hi David, they way Im updating some rows in the flat file is doing a pre hold of the flat file, and having the IDs of the rows that I need to update in a string. After that, in a new TABLE FILE (format DFIX delimited with pipes) in the DEFINE I check if the current row needs to be updated (DECODE with the string), and update the values if thats the case or rewrite the values from the flat file.

[Ricardo Lara]

Thanks Waz, Ill have a look.

[Toby Mills]

You guys have a pretty hefty amount of WebFOCUS users there at Autozone - Id get a real table set up somewhere in a database youre allowed to write to.

As you said at the outset, flat files just arent made for that sort of thing.

MODIFY will work once you get to a database of some sort (or .foc files).

[steve hodos]

As you are new-ish: MODIFY is the old file/table update language. If you use HTMLFORMs to pass it variables, you can write to tables, or create NEW flat files. Best to think of it as a batch update language only- no GUI. If you want an integrated GUI / add-update-delete language, MAINTAIN is the command of CHOICE. Finally- I will second (third) Waz and Toby- a database is really the way to go when dealing with more than 2-3 users potentially doing updates at the same time.

I am out of the infrastructure business now, but they used to ship a DB with 8x for those folks that needed something for their own repository- I am pretty sure you could also use that (but would not swear on a stack of PDFs, just in case).