It sounds to me like the Apache server is just writing the data directly to the HTTP connection as it is read. I believe that's how HTTP "streaming" works. I also believe this is possible to do using the Zope HTTPResponse object. Does anyone have any ideas? --jfarr "Perl is worse than Python because people wanted it worse." Larry Wall, 14 Oct 1998 ----- Original Message ----- From: Rob Pratt <rpratt@metcruz.com> To: <jfarr@real.com> Sent: Tuesday, June 27, 2000 10:56 AM Subject: Re: Slow File Access With LocalFS
Hey, thanks for the quick reply.
No, it just takes a while to read a very large file and construct the ZObject (performance patches accepted ;)). It can also take a while to download them but that should be obvious. How is it that you're "streaming" the mp3 files?
Sorry. Streaming is not exactly the right word I think. What I have set up is that Zope delivers a playlist (*.m3u), which is opened by a player on the local machine (assuming there's one installed), and the player app in turn makes a request for the actual mp3 file, which starts playing as soon as it's properly buffered in the player app. That avoids having to download each mp3 before playing it.
I had the collection stashed behind an Apache rewrite rule, but when I checked out LocalFS, I decided to try to move it into Zope under a LocalFS object (which I can use to control access to the files more easily than in Apache). Using Apache rewrite, requests for mp3 files just bypassed Zope, and "streaming" was immediate. But handled as a LocalFS object, mp3 file requests (I guess from your reply) have to wait to create the ZObject before they start "streaming."
Is there a way to get LocalFS to serve up the file without creating a ZObject?
Wish I knew more about Python and programming. (I'm workin' on it, but it's a steep learning curve for a newbie like me.) I'd jump in and see if I could come up with a performance patch.
Anyway, I've just started learning Zope, and I see that it has immense possibilities for automating a lot of what I do in my day job (I'm an editor for an alternative newsweekly in Santa Cruz, Calif., USA). The application I envision will probably make heavy use of the LocalFS product.
I was hoping that it would be easy to digitize our extensive demo library on touring bands so that I wouldn't have to lend CDs to writers who never seem to return them ;) I could just get an intern to rip CDs into mp3s and post them on a password-protected mp3 server, and all the writers could have 24-7 access.
That's just one feature. Many, many others that I can think of (not involving mp3s ;)) could take hours and hours of work off of my weekly workload.