XML vs SQL data fields

[petertu2000]

I am working on a new website, and the XML file we will be getting from our vendors will have 82 fields. Will it make sense to build a new database for AbleCommerce or is it still OK to add extra fields from the XML files.

Anyone has any experience on this? Thanks.

[Shopping Cart Admin]

Hello,

Add a new table with the additional fields and join it based on product ID. That way upgrades are not an issue.

[AbleMods]

I pull an XML feed now.

My process involved creating a class for the XML data so it is strongly-typed in code for my import/update routines. Made it much easier to work with although null values are still the work of the devil himself.

I created a script that makes a new temporary table in SQL. Then I load the XML feed into the table. From there my code processes through all the records. The end of my code drops the table and the work is complete.

Probably not the most efficient, but speed isn't my enemy just yet - only about 10,000 items in the XML feed.

[petertu2000]

Hi All,

Thanks for your input.

Peter