Direct SQL - SQL Considerations (Magic xpa 3.x)

Direct SQL can provide better performance by using RDBMS features that are not used in normal Magic xpa programming.

Global update to table rows and global delete of table rows are good examples. It is especially important to use global statements when working in a Client/Server environment to avoid excessive network traffic.

Another example is using statistical functions such as SUM, MAX, or AVG. If you want a record count, it is more efficient to use SELECT COUNT(*) in a Direct SQL task than to read records just to count them.