Using APL files to record website data

[Jinny]

Hi there, thanks to Dyalog for helping me return to the fun of APL! Though to be honest it's a bit uphill at the moment as my last use was pre-internet :-(
I'm aiming to write a website that is primarily data-driven - the MiServer manual refers to using relational databases such as 'MySQL, Microsoft Access, IBM DB2, Microsoft SQL Server or
Oracle.' Can I just use APL files? I will not be accessing the data from any other system. I'm a bit confused where the files would actually reside...

[Morten|Dyalog]

Hi Jinny!

APL code running inside MiServer is just regular APL code, it can use component files or any other form of storage. The files will reside in the file system where the MiServer is running. One thing you will need to look out for is that when multiple sessions are active, requests will be serviced using multiple threads within the same process. This means that you cannot use the traditional ⎕FHOLD mechanism to synchronise file operations, as these are designed to synchronise separate processes. I would recommend that you use the :Hold control structure around code blocks that need to perform multiple file operations without interference by other threads.

I hope this helps, otherwise please do not hesitate to ask further questions!

Morten

[Jinny]

Whew - and valuable extra point - thanks Morten!