A way to have unique icons/(other metadata), please read.

[Leareth <leareth geocities com>]

FIrst, this is a repost of sorts, edited in light of reply's to the original.
Includeing the addition of a specific goal for better understanding.

GOAL:
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I propose a way of makeing each file "smart", in the sence that it has it's
own icon(overrideable from it's doctype default), has a way of printing itself,
opening itself, and editing itself, all user modifiable. and that the database
that controls all this is user unique(say ~/.meta, or whatever), and does not
lose track of files modifyed by programs that are not awear of the extended
data.

And on a note, I also included a way of have true "complex" or "smart"
doc's(like opendoc or ole2) use there internal data, instead of the
databse.

This was, at the begining of the summer, a VERY big topic that was never
solved, by idea or code. My suggestion is below.

SOLUTION:						      (in detail)
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So, a multi user os, with a multi threading file system, that doesn't support
any  sort of extended data beond what it was originaly designed
for, and your not able to depend upon but the options available from 
chmod, as all other's a sys spec.

So, you either make a central database & library interface to it, which may
or may not alow for segragated user data, and if files are manipulated outside
of the library, links could keep going dead continuisly causeing endless 
amounts of truble. Or you keep user metadata databases, belonging to the
user, kept in there home directory, and manipulated through a library. still
looses track of file that are moved/renamed outside of the library.

Neither option really works. Here's one that does.

Someone, awhile ago, wrote a library called libvfs, that alowed any app linked
to libc, to open things as mc(vfs orig) did, without recompileing or relinking
anything.

Now here's we we get creative. We build both central & user databases,
the central with a list of files that contain the name(s) of the users that need
to be updated when the corisponding file is changed. Each user, keeps a 
database of metadat on all files that have been extended, includeing files
from remote sites. This database will be updated by a library that set & get's
the data, and is updated by libvfs when a file is changed through normal means
such as mv. This will keep all meta data updtaed, and user spec. 

Complex files, suck as opendoc file, that know about how to view/print/edit
them selves, comtain there own meta data, makeing them universal(same for
all users, reguardless of who makes the changes). The user database just
redirects all setting to be set in the file it self.

Comments please?


--
Leareth <leareth@geocities.com>
-- You've got to lose, to know how to win.