Why would I use something like Oracle rather than saving into a simple file? would´n it be slower, bigger and user limitting? import money.*; #include "cas.h" uses bucks;

First of all, I think your definition of databank is a bloated stand-alone program that stores data.
This is not necessarily right. You could argue that when you handle a list of NPCs, you're writing database code for this. But that's a different topic...

Using these types of databases could be useful because
a) interaction to other apps like webservers is easier. E.g. you can easily write a perl/php-script to query the database on your homepage (player stats via web for example)
b) Not sure on this, but as far as I know these complex databases use advanced storaging methods like balanced trees to ensure quicker access to data. This is especially useful for huge sets of data.
c) You just don't have to write that much code yourself.

In general though, if you're only talking about relatively small sets of data (small depends on the application), you're better off using your own code & data formats.

[edit] Heh what irony. I got a Micro$oft OLE DB Server error replying to this post

cu,
Prefect

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Sanity is the trademark of a weak mind.

Edited by - Prefect on February 9, 2001 12:52:13 PM