Ferret File System/v0.1: Difference between revisions

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==Introduction==
[[category:project]]
[[FileFerret]] is a software system intended to tackle the problem of keeping track of large numbers of files, including those archived to offline media. It can also provide services to other applications which may need to track large numbers of files for their own purposes.
==About==
 
[[FileFerret]] is a software system intended to manage large numbers of files, including those on offline media. It can also provide services to other applications which may need to track large numbers of files for their own purposes.
My original notes are on [[htwiki:FileFerret|HypertWiki]], but the official documentation will be here (HTYP) as I create it.
==Status==
==Preliminary Table Designs==
'''2022-09-23''' This project may have been supplanted by [[Ferret File System]], or it may also turn out to be a useful sub-goal which can be implemented fairly easily via [[Futilities/human|The Human Futilities]] toolkit.
These are based on what I had created in [[MS Access]] 97.
==Pages==
===fideals===
* [[/process]]: what it does
"[[/fideal|Fideal]]" is short for "ideal file". A fideal is the abstract idealization of the particular set of bytes contained within a file which is a perfect representation of the original – i.e. it either ''is'' the original, or it is a perfect copy. ("Original file" might be as good a name, but in some cases the "original" may become corrupted and one of the copies may be more accurate; the "fideal" is how the file is ''supposed'' to be.) Fideal records are generally only created when multiple copies of the same file are found, though they may also be created manually in order to track more information about a file.
* [[/SQL]]: tables
<mysql>CREATE TABLE `fideals` (
* [[/terms]]: terminology
  `ID`        INT NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
* [[/archive]]: obsolete documentation
  `Title`    VARCHAR(255) COMMENT "unique name for the file, wherever it may be found",
  `Descr`    VARCHAR(255) COMMENT "description, or pointer to wiki page",
  `AutoTitle` VARCHAR(255) COMMENT "automatically-generated title",
  `AutoDescr` VARCHAR(255) COMMENT "automatically-generated description",
  `FileSize`  INT          COMMENT "correct file size in bytes",
  `FileCkSum` INT          COMMENT "correct file checksum",
  PRIMARY KEY(`ID`)
)
ENGINE = MYISAM;</mysql>
* Basically, if you want to describe a file, you don't; you describe the filament. Files are localized instances (possibly imperfect copies) of filaments.
* '''Title''' will probably end up being some form of the filename, possibly with disambiguating text prepended.
* At some point I'll probably have some kind of syntax whereby the '''Descr''' field can refer to a wiki page for more info. Maybe just straight HTML?
* '''AutoDescr''' can be generated by the application which first goes looking for the filament and which therefore may have more understanding of the filament's purpose in life
* It's not clear whether we need something more elaborate than just a 4-byte checksum, because there are so many different ways of generating this.
 
===files===
<mysql>CREATE TABLE `files` (
  `ID`          INT NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
  `ID_Folder`  INT NOT NULL    COMMENT "Folders.ID of parent folder",
  `ID_Fideal`  INT DEFAULT NULL COMMENT "Fideals.ID for this file",
  `FileName`    VARCHAR(255)    COMMENT "just the filename.ext, not the full path",
  `FileSize`    INT DEFAULT NULL COMMENT "number of bytes in file",
  `FileCksum`  INT DEFAULT NULL COMMENT "file's checksum (algorithm to be worked out later)",
  `WhenCreated` DATETIME DEFAULT NULL COMMENT "file's creation timestamp",
  `WhenChanged` DATETIME DEFAULT NULL COMMENT "file's modification timestamp",
  `FirstFound`  DATETIME NOT NULL    COMMENT "time/date when file was first found during a scan",
  `LastFound`  DATETIME NOT NULL    COMMENT "time/date when file was most recently found during a scan",
  `isFound`    BOOL DEFAULT FALSE    COMMENT "TRUE = was found on most recent scan",
  PRIMARY KEY(`ID`)
)
ENGINE = MYISAM;</mysql>
===folders===
<mysql>CREATE TABLE `folders` (
  `ID`          INT NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
  `ID_Parent`  INT DEFAULT NULL      COMMENT "parent folder; NULL = filesystem root",
  `Name`        VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL COMMENT "filesystem's name for the folder",
  `Descr`      VARCHAR(255) DEFAULT NULL COMMENT "description for human consumption (optional; mainly for local roots)",
  `WhenCreated` DATETIME DEFAULT NULL COMMENT "folder's creation timestamp, where available",
  `WhenChanged` DATETIME DEFAULT NULL COMMENT "folder's modification timestamp, where available",
  `FirstFound`  DATETIME DEFAULT NULL COMMENT "time/date when folder was first found during a scan",
  `LastFound`  DATETIME DEFAULT NULL COMMENT "time/date when folder was most recently found during a scan",
  `isFound`    BOOL DEFAULT FALSE    COMMENT "TRUE = was found on most recent scan",
  `noScan`      BOOL DEFAULT FALSE    COMMENT "TRUE = for whatever reason, don't bother scanning inside this folder",
  `wasDenied`  BOOL DEFAULT FALSE    COMMENT "TRUE = filesystem did not allow access on last scan attempt",
  `isRecur`    BOOL DEFAULT FALSE    COMMENT "TRUE = this folder is a repeat of a parent folder, probably due to a recursive link",
  PRIMARY KEY(`ID`)
)
ENGINE = MYISAM;</mysql>
 
* '''Name''' is not the full path, just the folder's filename. If it is the root folder of a volume (ID_Parent IS NULL), then Name should ''not'' be included as part of the path; drive letters and such are set in Mappings. Name must always be non-null, so this value is filled with something meaningless like "." if it is a root folder. (Maybe we'll put the volume name in there later.)
* '''noScan''' is for blacklisting folders whose contents we really don't want to track, such as temp and trash areas which may become full of frequently-changing but useless clutter, or areas where things that aren't really files are kept (e.g. "/dev")
* '''FirstFound''' and '''LastFound''' may need to be NULL for root folders. It's not clear why this happens (perhaps they were manually created -- but the code should have time-stamped them -- but possibly this was just an oversight, and wouldn't happen with production code).
 
===locations===
'''I'm going to try eliminating this.''' It's basically just all folders where ID_Parent IS NULL.
<mysql>CREATE TABLE `locations` (
  `ID`        INT NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
  `ID_Folder` INT NOT NULL,
  `Name`      VARCHAR(63),
  `Descr`    VARCHAR(255),
  PRIMARY KEY(`ID`)
)
ENGINE = MYISAM;</mysql>
===machines===
<mysql>CREATE TABLE `machines` (
  `ID`        INT NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
  `NetName`  VARCHAR(63) NOT NULL COMMENT "network name of machine",
  `FirstConnected` DATETIME DEFAULT NULL COMMENT "when this machine was first connected to the DB",
  `LastConnected`  DATETIME DEFAULT NULL COMMENT "when this machine was last connected to the DB",
  PRIMARY KEY(`ID`)
)
ENGINE = MYISAM;</mysql>
===mappings===
<mysql>CREATE TABLE `mappings` (
  `ID`          INT NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
  `ID_Folder`  INT NOT NULL COMMENT "folders.ID",
  `ID_Machine`  INT NOT NULL COMMENT "machines.ID",
  `Name`        VARCHAR(63) NOT NULL COMMENT "short name for lists",
  `Descr`      VARCHAR(255) DEFAULT NULL COMMENT "longer description",
  `FileSpec`    VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL COMMENT "must not have terminating slash; will be used as prefix for folder chains",
  `isPrimary`  BOOL DEFAULT FALSE COMMENT "is Machine primarily responsible for maintaining (scanning) this Folder?",
  `isDrive`    BOOL DEFAULT FALSE COMMENT "TRUE = can be queried for volume and capacity information; may be removable.",
  PRIMARY KEY(`ID`)
)
ENGINE = MYISAM;</mysql>

Latest revision as of 13:40, 25 February 2024

About

FileFerret is a software system intended to manage large numbers of files, including those on offline media. It can also provide services to other applications which may need to track large numbers of files for their own purposes.

Status

2022-09-23 This project may have been supplanted by Ferret File System, or it may also turn out to be a useful sub-goal which can be implemented fairly easily via The Human Futilities toolkit.

Pages

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