Paging performance: SQL or PagedDataSource?

[Stimp]

In terms of performance/system resources/good practice, is it generally
better to perform paging within an SQL query rather than
paging a datasource that implements that query?

In this particular instance, each row could have many bytes since I use
a VARCHAR(max).

I'm under the impression that SQL paging (where possible) is always
preferable, but would be interested to hear pros/cons
--

fiddlewidawiddum

[Jonathan Wood]

I'm still learning about PagedDataSource but I don't believe this class
precludes SQL paging. I believe you can use both.

At any rate, you should always use SQL paging whenever the amount of data is
more than a couple of pages. Otherwise, the database server has to return
all the data, whether it's displayed or not.

--
Jonathan Wood
SoftCircuits Programming
http://www.softcircuits.com

"Stimp" <re*@spumco.comwrote in message
news:sl****************@minerva.redbrick.dcu.ie...

In terms of performance/system resources/good practice, is it generally
better to perform paging within an SQL query rather than
paging a datasource that implements that query?

In this particular instance, each row could have many bytes since I use
a VARCHAR(max).

I'm under the impression that SQL paging (where possible) is always
preferable, but would be interested to hear pros/cons
--

fiddlewidawiddum