[FX.php List] Value lists or Data (FMView or Mult. Queries)

[Joel Shapiro]

Thanks Bob and Gjermund

I've got 6 value lists on one form.  I've started implementing my  
option A.

I suppose, though, I could put portals (cartesian-join relationships)  
of each of the value-list tables onto my one layout so I wouldn't  
have to query the DB more than once.  At that point, it seems it  
would be pretty similar to pulling multiple value lists from the same  
one layout, and I wouldn't need to do a separate FMView -- only the  
one FMFind...  hmm...

Good food for thought... though I'm not gonna do any benchmark  
testing on this one ;)

Thanks all,
-Joel


On Nov 2, 2006, at 2:42 PM, Gjermund Gusland Thorsen wrote:

> I use C
>
> On 11/2/06, Bob Patin <bob at patin.com> wrote:
>> I've used both methods; I can't tell any difference between the two,
>> but I've also not done any real testing since it's been used in
>> situations where there weren't huge numbers of records.
>>
>> Bob Patin
>> Longterm Solutions
>> bob at longtermsolutions.com
>> 615-333-6858
>> http://www.longtermsolutions.com
>>
>>    CONTACT US VIA INSTANT MESSAGING:
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>>
>> On Nov 2, 2006, at 4:04 PM, Kevin Futter wrote:
>>
>> > On 3/11/06 7:37 AM, "Joel Shapiro" <jsfmp at earthlink.net> wrote:
>> >
>> >> Hi all
>> >>
>> >> I've got some online forms that use value lists - some radio, some
>> >> checkbox, some drop-down.  I first developed these just as  
>> arrays in
>> >> the PHP, which works well but I realized I'll need the same value
>> >> lists on the FMP side.  It seems to make most sense to have the
>> >> values come from FM so the client can change them as required  
>> without
>> >> having to also change the PHP.
>> >>
>> >> I'm wondering what would be the best way to get these values -- to
>> >> use FMView to get FM Value Lists, or to just query small value- 
>> list
>> >> tables.  I'm guessing that pulling in everything that comes  
>> with an
>> >> FMView call is still faster than multiple queries (one for each  
>> value
>> >> list), but I'm not sure.  And does the source of a value list's
>> >> values make a difference in performance?
>> >>
>> >> (this is separation model: Data, Web, FMP-UI files)
>> >>
>> >> I see three options...
>> >>
>> >> GET VALUES VIA:
>> >>
>> >> A) VALUE LIST WITH CUSTOM VALUES
>> >>       - Create Value List (VL) with Custom Values in the Data  
>> file,
>> >> and another VL in the Web file using the Data file's VL ("Use  
>> another
>> >> file's value list")
>> >>       - Use FMView and $x['valueLists']['valuelistname']
>> >>
>> >> B) VALUE LIST USING DATA FROM FIELD
>> >>       - Create specific VL tables (w/ secondary sortOrder field)
>> >>       - Create Value List in Web file "Using values from field"
>> >>       - Use FMView and $x['valueLists']['valuelistname']
>> >>
>> >> C) QUERIED DATA
>> >>       - Create specific VL tables (w/ secondary sortOrder field)
>> >>       - Query for values as any other data query
>> >>
>> >> Any recommendations?  Better options?
>> >>
>> >> Will any of these affect performance enough that you'd recommend
>> >> hard-
>> >> coded PHP arrays?
>> >>
>> >> Note: the value lists probably won't change very often, but it  
>> would
>> >> be nice for the client not to have to even think about their PHP
>> >> pages once they're up and running.
>> >>
>> >> TIA,
>> >> -Joel
>> >
>> > I've had success with option one, but it has always bothered me
>> > that I have
>> > to make one db call with FMView to grab the value list data, and  
>> then
>> > another call with FMFind to grab record data. It doesn't seem to
>> > affect
>> > performance, but I'm not talking about anything high-volume here. I
>> > think if
>> > value list values can be stored as field data (they couldn't in my
>> > case), it
>> > would be more efficient to access them this way. I guess a lot
>> > depends on
>> > what the database schema requires or allows you to do. Storing
>> > multiple,
>> > similar value lists as field data isn't often practical.
>> >
>> > --
>> > Kevin Futter
>> > Webmaster, St. Bernard's College
>> > http://www.sbc.melb.catholic.edu.au/
>> >
>> >
>> >
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