Attachments Table

The attachments table contains the details of all attachments (images or files) associated with raised issues.

Table 7.3. Attachments table description

Column Name

Type

Size

Not Null?

Constraints

Description

id

Number

n/a

Yes

primary key

A unique numeric ID that identifies an attachment. Populated by an auto sequence.

article_id

Varchar

10

Yes

Foreign key to associated issue.

Associated kbase article.

uid

Int

11

No

None

User id of the user attaching the file.

title

Varchar

255

Yes

None

Title for attachment.

description

Mediumtext

-

Yes

None

Description of the file attachment.

filepath

Mediumtext

1024

Yes

None

Path to the file in the system.

filename

Varchar

255

No

None

Original name of the file attachment.

hashname

text

-

No

None

Hash of file name and date string.

filetype

Varchar

255

No

None

Type of file attachment. Default `application/octet-stream`

size

Integer

10

Yes

None

Size of file attachment.

state

Number

4

No

None

Indicates issue is visible in front end.

ordering

Number

11

No

None

Specifies ordering of issues.

checked_out

Number

11

Yes

None

Joomla field record locking

checked_out_time

Date

n/a

Yes

None

Joomla field record locking

created_on

Date

n/a

Yes

None

Date the record was created.

created_by

Varchar

255

Yes

None

The user who created the record.

modified_on

Date

n/a

Yes

None

The date the record was last modified.

modified_by

Varchar

255

Yes

None

The user who last modified the record.


The design of using a separate table to store details of attachments has a few pros and cons associated. The pros include the minimising of the amount of information stored about attachments as opposed to storing the information within the article table directly. One of the downsides is that it is necessary to have details of the item to which the attachment is connected. This means that articles have to exist as records within the database prior to the attachments being made.

Our experience seems to indicate that attachments are not the norm with Joomla components and tend to be very few, hence saving database space by saving the details separately is very beneficial.

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