Is this possible in the Anandtech forums?

[RobertCane]

It's a silly question, but it popped into my head just now and won't go anywhere.

Is it possible that two posts from one user in a thread will have different signatures?

If you assume that the forums query a database for user info when rendering a page, it could be possible that if a user updates their profile while the page is loading, the pre-update post and the post-update post would be different.

But I have no idea how the system works, and I sure haven't ever seen it happen. Thoughts?

-- Rob

 

[Alphathree33]

It's possible because it keeps an open, streaming connecting as it is drawing posts from the database.

Well, ACTUALLY, based on the way SQL works... you form a recordset first (you could think of it as an image of the database) and then you use whatever language you're working with to loop through the recordset (it's like a complex array)

So actually since the recordset itself could only contain one version of any given signature, a page could only contain one version of it as well.

EDIT: Because if the database is changed while its looping through, that doesn't matter. You would have to re-query the database to update the recordset.

It's like opening a report in MS word, changing the file you opened with a script and wondering why what you're looking at in word hasnt changed also. That's stored in RAM, and you just changed your HDD.

Sorry.

 

[PsychoAndy]

With the exception of a lapse in time between the updates, I dont think so.

The instant you change your sig, it changes everything in every post you have made, so its... retroactive (is that the word?)

-PAB

 

[Skyclad1uhm1]

Originally posted by: PsychoAndy
With the exception of a lapse in time between the updates, I dont think so.

The instant you change your sig, it changes everything in every post you have made, so its... retroactive (is that the word?)

-PAB

I think the way it works is that it loads every post in a thread one by one, and queries the signature of the poster. So if it already put one post from a person on the screen, and the person then changes his signature before the next one is loaded, it can show up differently. With a slow link it could show even more than 2 different ones in principle.

 

[Alphathree33]

Originally posted by: Skyclad1uhm1

Originally posted by: PsychoAndy With the exception of a lapse in time between the updates, I dont think so. The instant you change your sig, it changes everything in every post you have made, so its... retroactive (is that the word?) -PAB

I think the way it works is that it loads every post in a thread one by one, and queries the signature of the poster. So if it already put one post from a person on the screen, and the person then changes his signature before the next one is loaded, it can show up differently. With a slow link it could show even more than 2 different ones in principle.

You clearly have never used SQL, and have no idea how an INNER JOIN works.