SQL interface - am I doing this right?

[Chris Powell <helios@brickandivy.com>]

******    message to minivend-users from Chris Powell <helios@brickandivy.com>     ******

Hello, all!

I've just transitioned from the ASCII products database to an SQL 
products db using Solid.  While tricky, I have managed to meet success.  
(One caveat is that [item-field ...] things need to be in caps, e.g. 
[item-field CATEGORY].

I noticed a big performance hit by taking the SQL route, however -- 
things take seconds to return when they used to be pretty snappy.  I'm 
presuming this is due to the overhead of the DBI/DBD interface, but I 
want to make sure it's not me...

In ASCII-db mode, it went like this:

	I modified products.asc
		|
		V
	minivend spotted the mods and rebuild products.gdbm
		|
		V
	minivend used the .gdbm file for snappy searches


In my hacked-up SQL mode, it now goes like this:

	I make changes to the Solid db
		|
		V
	minivend accesses Solid directly for every query or search
	(and the .gdbm files are never rebuilt)


Is there a way to get the flexibility of SQL with the snappy response 
times
of .gdbm files?  Something like:

	All changes happen to the Solid db
		|
		V
	minivend periodically caches this info / rebuilds a
	.gdbm file for its own use
		|
		V
	queries hit this file instead of always hitting the Solid server

Maybe that's the way it's supposed to happen and I've broken it?  I would 
sure like to use an SQL-based solution, but not have to wait 10-15 
seconds for search results.

(BTW, the Solid db is only 400 records long, and the machine is a PPro 
200 with lots of RAM and very little else going on... so it's not the 
machine, IMHO.)

Regards,
Chris Powell
-- 
Christopher Powell               Brick and Ivy Corporate Consulting
helios@brickandivy.com                  http://www.brickandivy.com/

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