Storing and Retrieving Multiple Keywords from One Field

The recommended method of customizing your AppGini-generated application is through hooks. But sometimes you might need to add functionality not accessible through hooks. You can discuss this here.
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toolie
Posts: 4
Joined: 2016-10-02 07:23

Storing and Retrieving Multiple Keywords from One Field

Post by toolie » 2016-10-02 08:02

Hi there, I'm creating my own file/resource tracking system with storage online but I'm only storing the location of the file, not the file itself within my AppGini project. I am creating the requisite fields as metadata for each file type, but what I'm stuck on is the best way to store keywords in a field that I can later search on using the LIKE operator in SQL.

You've seen the kind of jQuery-based display of tags in a field where you type in a keyword followed by a comma, and eventually all those words are stored in a single field in MySQL. I don't want to create a predetermined list of keywords; I want freeform entry of all keywords into one field per record.

I want the option of having 2, 3, or 4-word keyword phrases. I plan to create a custom display page containing thumbnails of the files, and I want to be able to retrieve and display the keywords below the thumbnail. I'm assuming that the best field type to use is a TEXT data type. From a data retrieval and parsing point of view, would you recommend storing the keywords followed by a semicolon, or enclosed in brackets, or... ? I thought about trying to store some kind of JSON string, but I couldn't see how that overhead would benefit me in this case.

I'd really appreciate some guidance on this ASAP.

Thanks!
Toolie

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