Steve Lamb wrote: ...
And before we get into this again I only have to ask one question. If a
single file is such a bad thing why is it MySQL (and other) databases don't
store records per file but, instead, per table? You'd think the corruption
problem would be just as bad for them. And yet companies around the world
routinely store immense amount of data in monolithic files without much
concern. Far more than the piddly amount of mail any individual on here would
worry about.
Whether a single file is bad (or requires copying to a new file to reliably make changes) all depends on the file format. Making a logical change to the data involves making a set of one or more physical changes to the file. If making the first changes in the set and "forgetting" to make the rest of the changes (e.g., in case of a power failure) leaves the file corrupted and unrecoverable, then it's not a good format for making incremental changes without copying to a new file for reliability. The mbox format that Seamonkey uses is like that. However, if making the first part of the changes without making the second part leaves the file in a state such that things are recoverable (e.g., either the partial change is backed out or the partial change is completed), then you can make incremental changes without needing to copy to a new file for reliability. Daniel