I did something like this a while ago ... and while it might not be the best solution - here's my situation and my solution:
I had a number of photos (just shy of 1000) ... all were from various theatre shows ... taken at a different time of the process (rehearsal ... performance etc). So - I set up the following table in MySQL: Photo ID - an auto increment integer Show ID - an integer Time ID - an integer Imagetype - a string (JPG or Gif etc) When the file was then uploaded - the user selects a show and time to store it under. The file is then transferred to a directory numbered thus : /photos/showid/timeid/photoid.jpg When I then want to find a photo - it does a query over the database, retrieves the information and can access the photo appropriately. The downside of this - is that in order to know which photo is which - you have to access the database first. Dunno if that helps - but I thought I'd share my experience. Michael. -----Original Message----- From: Scott Houseman [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: 21 August 2002 14:39 To: Justin French; PHP General Subject: RE: [PHP] Image library Hi all. This confirms what I suspected. The hash algrithm: I have a directory structure: dirs 0 - f, and within each of these, the same dir structure 0 - f. When an image gets uploaded into the library, do an md5sum of the file, take the first 2 chars of that hash and there's your path. e.g $PICDBPATH.'/a/7/a7b8be10b0e69fe3decaa538f1febe84' I'm not sure what the mathematical randomness of this is, but I'm sure it's pretty random, and the chances of collision should be virtually null, the only time you should overwrite a file is if you upload the exact same file(?) Is there a better way of doing this? Cheers -Scott > -----Original Message----- > From: Justin French [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: 21 August 2002 03:25 > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; PHP General > Subject: Re: [PHP] Image library > > > on 21/08/02 9:45 PM, Scott Houseman ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote: > > > > Which way would be the most efficient/fastest to access images > from an image > > library. > > A) Store image files in a hash directory structure AND storing > each file's > > information in a mysql table > > OR > > B) Storing image information in mysql table AND storing the > image in a BLOB > > field in that table. > > >From all accounts I've read on this list, a database is not > usually faster > than a filesystem. And for large amounts of files, like 1000's, > a hash will > speed it up more. > > > > The way I see it, considerations to be taken into acount: > > - Is it quicker/better to retrieve image from table & then stream out to > > browser OR simply direct the browser to the file? > > i.e <IMG SRC="/imagelib/image.php?iImageID=10"> OR <IMG > > SRC="/imagelib/5/f/10"> > > - Will a database OR filesystem be more scalable i.e. which wil perform > > better when there are 10000 images in the libary? > > Filesystem should be quicker. You need to think about how you hash the > files up for the most even spread of files in each directory I guess. > > > Justin > > -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php _____________________________________________________________________ This message has been checked for all known viruses by the MessageLabs Virus Control Centre. This message has been checked for all known viruses by the MessageLabs Virus Control Centre. ********************************************************************* Notice: This email is confidential and may contain copyright material of Ocado Limited (the "Company"). Opinions and views expressed in this message may not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of the Company. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify us immediately and delete all copies of this message. Please note that it is your responsibility to scan this message for viruses. Company reg. no. 3875000. Swallowdale Lane, Hemel Hempstead HP2 7PY ********************************************************************* -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
