Best Practice for Providing Large Image Sets (25 Images per Folder, ~400 KB Each) via API

[MA8731174]

Hi everyone,

I am currently working on a use case where we have multiple repositories, and each path contains around 25 images, each with a file size of approximately 400 KB.
The customer would like to retrieve (“auslesen”) these images via an API from ThingWorx.

Before I implement the solution, I would like to get some best-practice recommendations from the community:

My Questions

1. What is the best way to prepare and serve many images via API in ThingWorx?
   Should we use:

   • LoadBinary for each image,

   • LoadImage,

   • SaveImage / Base64 output,

   • or another recommended approach?

2. Is it more efficient and possible to:

   • Return image streams directly,

   • Convert them to Base64,

   • Or provide download URLs (e.g., via Content Caching)?

3. Are there performance concerns when retrieving 25×400 KB = ~10 MB per request from a ThingWorx server?
   Any recommended throttling, batching, or pagination strategies?

Goal

We want to provide the customer with a clean, fast, and scalable API that allows them to retrieve all images from a given folder path.

Looking for advice on optimal services, data structures, and performance considerations.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions or insights!

[slangley · Accepted solution]

Hi @MA8731174 

To effectively prepare and serve multiple images via an API in ThingWorx, consider the following best practices:

Image Retrieval Methods:

• LoadBinary: This method can be used for retrieving binary data, but it may not be the most efficient for multiple images.
• LoadImage: This is specifically designed for image retrieval and may be more suitable for your use case.
• SaveImage / Base64 Output: While converting images to Base64 can be useful, it increases the size of the data being transmitted, which may not be ideal for performance.
• Direct Image Streams: Returning image streams directly can be efficient, especially if the client can handle the binary data.

Performance Considerations:

• Retrieving 25 images at approximately 400 KB each (totaling around 10 MB) in a single request can lead to performance issues, especially if multiple users are accessing the API simultaneously.
• Consider implementing throttling to limit the number of requests per user or per time period.
• Batching or pagination strategies can help manage the load. For example, you could retrieve images in smaller groups (e.g., 5 images per request) to reduce the data load and improve response times.

Content Delivery:

• Providing download URLs via content caching can be an effective way to serve images. This allows clients to download images directly, reducing the load on the ThingWorx server.
• Ensure that caching is properly configured to enhance performance and reduce repeated data retrieval.

Hope this information is helpful.

Regards.

--Sharon