Forum Posts Feed
more idle thoughts - about file metadata
< Next Topic | Back to topic list | Previous Topic >
Posted by jimspoon
Nov 13, 2012 at 07:55 PM
“improvised” .. not “improved” haha.
Posted by Cassius
Nov 14, 2012 at 01:15 AM
jimspoon wrote:
p.s. I have improved a very crude metadata system for files ... i put
>metadata into the file name. Specifically, I often begin file names
>with a date in the format “2012.11.13”. Then, using Voidtools
>Everything, I can instantly retrieve all files in the file system that
>have “2012.11.13” in the file name, and sort them by filename. I can
>drag and drop all the found files into a Xplorer2 “scrap container” to
>browse and view them. Very crude but I use it all the time.
================
I thought about this. One might run into problems if one wants to include a large number of tags in the file name. It probably would be better to place tags at the end of a file name, each preceded by a special character, such as ##.
Then, all one needs is a very fast search engine that has Boolean capabilities. Does anyone know of such, preferably one that doesn’t require indexing? If so, LET US KNOW!
-c
Posted by jimspoon
Nov 14, 2012 at 04:51 AM
Cassius, I’d recommend Voidtools Everything -
http://www.voidtools.com/download.php
It does index, but the indexing is very fast and it is continuously updated. Instead of traversing the directory tree, it relies on the NTFS “USN journal” aka change journal. It indexes file names, not the content.
Off hand I don’t recall other search options, but if you type in two strings separated by a space, it finds all files/paths with those two strings anywhere in the file or path name. It narrows down the list of matching files as you type.
I wish it had a built in file viewer, but I can use xplorer2 scrap containers for that. Also for some reason it won’t return matching files that are in my Dropbox folders. Haven’t tried it with Skydrive or other syncing services.
If you think about using the filename or pathname for tagging, remember the limits on filename / pathname length - for NTFS it is as follows -
“Individual components of a filename (i.e. each subdirectory along the path, and the final filename) are limited to 255 characters, and the total path length is limited to approximately 32,000 characters. However, you should generally try to limit path lengths to below 260 characters (MAX_PATH) when possible. See http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa365247.aspx for full details.”
Posted by Tim the Red
Nov 14, 2012 at 04:59 PM
Everything can do boolean and even regular expression searches, and it’s awesome. Practically instantaneous. Important: only on local NTFS drives.
See: http://www.voidtools.com/faq.php#How_do_I_use_boolean_operators
I use file name tagging and Everything, like jimspoon described. Just a few tags per file, more than that doesn’t work well. I’ve been doing it for a couple years. The major drawback is it’s not cross-platform. The real solution requires a standard that spans all companies but I’m not holding my breath that this is going to happen any time soon.
Posted by jimspoon
Nov 14, 2012 at 08:26 PM
Great stuff, Tim!
If anyone wants to try Everything - you’ll see that the version on the download page is 1.2.1.371.
But you might want to install 1.2.1.451a instead - here’s the link
http://www.voidtools.com/Everything-1.2.1.451a.zip