[Tracker] data clustering and metadata storage

["Peter Rullmann" <peter p4n net>]

Hi Jamie,

is it possible with tracker to do some sort of simple data clustering
to refine a query?
Tracker would examine the attributes of a resulting set of files and
offer a list of key-value pairs that help to refine the query. That
are keys that have different values (n/a is also an option) in the
resulting files.
To rank the keys by relevance for refining the query, one could prefer
the keys with the least different values. Or better: For each key,
count the number of files with the least used value and prefer the
keys where that number of files is the biggest.
But I am not an expert on information retrieval. I guess there are
theories for that :).

An example: If I search for "Frank", it could ask me for
type=music(number of hits), pictures(..) or text(..). After Clicking
on type=music, it would ask me if I mean Artist="Frank Sinatra"(..) or
"Frank Popp Ensemble"(..).


Another question:
How can I add persistent metadata to a file like a description to a .txt file?
If I add it only to the Tracker database, it will be lost at the next
rescan or when I copy the file to my usb stick for example. If I store
it in a Linux Extended Attribute, it won't be indexed by Tracker.
Whats your opinion on Linux Extended Attributes and MacOS X hidden
resource files?
How can I search for gnome emblems, that I have given to a file?


Thanks in advance and keep up the good work. I think it is excellent
that there is a fast, small and powerfull alternative to Beagle et al.

Peter
--
Peter Rullmann <peter AT p4n.net>     http://p4n.net     [ICQ: 22931645]
Richard-Wagner-Str. 72, 66111 Saarbruecken, Germany.     +49/681/9388281