Forum Discussion

FM's avatar
FM
New Contributor III
10 months ago

Tagging attachments to a dashboard

Hello,

 

I have a Dashboard that has an attachment button, setup as "File Upload" to the Application Database. We want the client to be able to attach files (this part is working).

Due to the number of attachments, every file that is attached, will have to be tagged to a Text field for a specific Member. We'd like to tag multiple files on a single text line, separated by commas.

Has anyone done something similar? How did you go about this? 

Thank you for your time.

Dashboards
  • JackLacava's avatar
    JackLacava
    10 months ago

    As RobbSalzmann said, this doesn't seem like a good idea.

    If you don't want to go to the trouble of managing a custom table, why don't you simply organise the files in folders, each folder being named after a Member? Then, instead of looking up a Text property, your code will just go to that specific folder and retrieve all the files it finds.

     

  • RobbSalzmann's avatar
    RobbSalzmann
    Valued Contributor II
    10 months ago

    Hi FM 
    While you could go through the api layer to update the text value in each member every time a file is uploaded,.
    This presents some risks:

    • the length allowed in the text field could be exceeded by the number of attachments its describing
    • when files are removed, you then also have to remember and remove the bit you added to the member's text.
    • you're using the hierarchy metadata-metadata to store information its not really designed for

    Consider another approach that uses a custom table to index and store this information. This approach will 

    • be easier to implement and maintain
    • perform better/faster
    • not put unnecessary strain on the hierarchy
  • JackLacava's avatar
    JackLacava
    Honored Contributor
    10 months ago

    As RobbSalzmann said, this doesn't seem like a good idea.

    If you don't want to go to the trouble of managing a custom table, why don't you simply organise the files in folders, each folder being named after a Member? Then, instead of looking up a Text property, your code will just go to that specific folder and retrieve all the files it finds.

     

  • FM's avatar
    FM
    New Contributor III
    10 months ago

    Thank you to the both of you, I think that I am going to go with Jack's idea and setup a business tule that does that.