How sluggish is a big xml file in combination with datasets?

Hello,

I am currently working on a project which will run in an environment,
where the size of the database is very limited. That's why I thought
about relying in some parts entirely on xml files (and datasets) as an
DB replacement.

I.E.:

DataSet myDataSetToRead = new DataSet();

myDataSetToRead.ReadXmlSchema("c:\\abcd.xsd");
myDataSetToRead.ReadXml("c:\\abc.xml");

dostuff with the dataset data

etc.


Now, I will doing this only for the little used parts application,
where maybe 5 users at once will use it.

I know that this approach is slow compared to a real DB, but, what are
the other limitations? Is there a size limit? I mean, will it somehow
break after the file reaches 50 MB? And how much slower will it be,
compared to a DB? 10 times slower? More?

KerryMoorman
Sun Oct 21 08:21:05 PDT 2007

PSiegmann,

How do you plan on dealing with concurrency?

Kerry Moorman


"PSiegmann@mail.nu" wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I am currently working on a project which will run in an environment,
> where the size of the database is very limited. That's why I thought
> about relying in some parts entirely on xml files (and datasets) as an
> DB replacement.
>
> I.E.:
>
> DataSet myDataSetToRead = new DataSet();
>
> myDataSetToRead.ReadXmlSchema("c:\\abcd.xsd");
> myDataSetToRead.ReadXml("c:\\abc.xml");
>
> dostuff with the dataset data
>
> etc.
>
>
> Now, I will doing this only for the little used parts application,
> where maybe 5 users at once will use it.
>
> I know that this approach is slow compared to a real DB, but, what are
> the other limitations? Is there a size limit? I mean, will it somehow
> break after the file reaches 50 MB? And how much slower will it be,
> compared to a DB? 10 times slower? More?
>
>

PSiegmann
Sun Oct 21 09:11:07 PDT 2007

On Oct 21, 5:21 pm, Kerry Moorman
<KerryMoor...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> PSiegmann,
>
> How do you plan on dealing with concurrency?
>
> Kerry Moorman
>
>
>

Well, in the areas where I want to use this approach, only one user at
a time will write anything into the xml file.