Magento - automated order extract - EAV vs flat files

Question

I want to build an automated routine that exports orders from Magento to another ERP. I started down the road of the magento SOAP/XML API's. However we are finding this solution slow for large numbers of orders.

Now I realize that the flat order tables (sales_flat_order, sales_flat_item etc) seem to contain all of the information I need. Is this file reliable and kept up to date? Is there anything that I will be missing in this case (other than custom attributes of course). Are these files likely to change in event of upgrade?

Magento API's http://www.magentocommerce.com/api/soap/introduction.html

Magento Data model http://www.magentocommerce.com/wiki/2_-_magento_concepts_and_architecture/magento_database_diagram#magento_database_downloads

thanks

Answer 1

Assuming you are using a newish version of Magento (1.4.2.0+) I would say the sales_flat_* tables should be entirely reliable (might be beforehand also, I'm just unqualified to comment). The api works with an instance of sales/order, which is based off of that table anyway.

With regards to custom attributes, if these are something you will need for your export, you can actually make Magento copy the information into the sales_flat_* tables without too much fuss.