We looking to build an application to maintain meeting minutes and similar stuff using .net. I was thinking of using db4o or some OODB for this. Is it a bad idea? I am looking to simply create a repository of meeting minutes where users can perform lookups by date and little things like that. Is having a SQL Express DB a better option than using db4o or Versant FastObjects
EDIT: This is a small brainchild to track discussions and meeting minutes. I want to keep the app size as small as I can.
Since you require operations such as lookups etc, why don't you try sqlite instead?
cannot answer without knowing the object/data structures
sounds like overkill, but on the other hand it may simplify implementation, especially if object persistence is automatic/simplified
In all likelihood, the sort of application you describe -- small user base, keeping track of small chunks of text -- will work fine with whatever DB you choose, or even just a directory with text files. If you want to learn something new, it would probably make a fine little experiment as well. But I don't see a strong reason to choose an OODB over anything else.
If you have not tried DB4O I think you will be suprised. It is super easy to use in a .Net application. You can save any .Net object with a single line of code and rehydrate it with a single line. Additionally, you can use LINQ to query your objects so searching is easy.
The only real drawback is that performance can degrade if you have a large dataset unless you index the data correctly. Creating these indexes will correct the performance problems, but they are somewhat complicated to create effectively.
Lastly, be aware that DB4O is a GPL licensed system. This is a copy left license so you cannot distribute your application to anyone without publishing the source code under a GPL license as well.
All in all, DB4O is awesome in small apps like you are describing!