Date parsed: 07/01/2008 08:59:24
Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2008 08:59:24 -0000

Well, if you want to store (binary) documents *inside* SQL Server
2000, then your only option is "image". SQL Server 2005 introduces
varbinary(max) which can function in a very similar manner, and 2008
introduces file-streams.

Yes, there are pros and cons of documents inside the database. For my
document management system, I just keep a relative* path in the
database, with the files outside; this allows me to map them directly
into a virtual folder in IIS. However, you would probably need to use
a bespoke handler/module to enforce access control (or perhaps edit
the file ACLs through code; but this is possibly harder?).

Note that it is harder to get a single backup of the data+files if
they are segregated like this...

Marc

(*=relative to the root of my docstore tree, so I can easily move the
physical files without having to update the database)