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basilis · Guest

hi all

i want to view some specific data from a table in a database.there are 2
ways:
a)pass an sql query in an adoquery component and get the results
b)make a adotable that connects to the table of the database and then use
the filter property to get the specific results

is there any diffrence in the 2 ways?which one is faster?
should i use the second one if i need to make many queries in the same
table?

thks

Mike Collins · Guest

SQL is probably faster and has less overheads.

When you use a table, your application / ado requests ALL the data for that
table. That information is shipped from the database, via ado, to your
table within builder. Then you apply your filter in builder which iterates
thought all the data client-side (you app) and removes any entries that do
not match. This is ok but if you have thousands of records, it's a lot to
ship over unnecessarily. My impression of table filters where simply a
mechanic to provide GUI style filtering and ordering - not actually as a
selective function. As far as I remember, filters can be toggles on and off
so it makes it very useful for filtering as I have described.

SQL on the other, relies on the database / engine to do the hard work and
only returns the records that you actually want. However, SQL requests have
overheads as well. The database engine must compile the sql request and
execute it - this takes a finite about of time. This can be avoided by
using stored procedures.

Basically, it boils down to what exactly you are doing, how much data your
are detailing with, what type of database you are communicating with (local
Access/desktop database vs. sql server) and where you database is located or
accessed from.

HTH

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