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Author Topic: files and folders emulator  (Read 5332 times)

kalos

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files and folders emulator
« on: March 28, 2008, 09:07 PM »
hello

I have several external hard disks with files

I need a program that will gather the names and size of all the files and folders in them and it will create a database of all the files and folders

then, when I paste a file in a specific folder, it will check if the files is duplicated and it will popup a warning of 'file already exist' as if the file existed

this will save me from having duplicate files on each of the drives

is there a program that can do this?

I know that it can be done with specific RAID hardware, but I want a software solution

I would like to make all the files and folders to all my hard disks (that are external) to appear as if they were all in one disk

and I then to use this hypothetical disk as a database of all my files and folders so that I can check if a file is already there or not

thanks

Dormouse

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Re: files and folders emulator
« Reply #1 on: March 28, 2008, 09:09 PM »
Why not just use a duplicate checker/remover?

Double Killer Pro seems to be well recommended here - https://www.donation...dex.php?topic=1693.0
« Last Edit: March 28, 2008, 09:16 PM by Dormouse »

kalos

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Re: files and folders emulator
« Reply #2 on: March 28, 2008, 09:23 PM »
because I cannot have opened the external drives all the time and all of them are too many to have them opened, even for a while

(by open, I mean to have them connected to the pc and working)

MrCrispy

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Re: files and folders emulator
« Reply #3 on: March 29, 2008, 02:38 AM »
You know what, this is something I've always wanted. Many times I'm downloading something, or saving a file, that I' already have. I want this sort of thing integrated in the file system/Explorer so that when I try to do a file operation it can tell me that the file exists, and where it is.


kalos

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Re: files and folders emulator
« Reply #4 on: April 06, 2008, 12:44 AM »
vista introduces 'virtual folders' which I suppose is what I need

isn't there a 'virtual folder' utility for xp? (apart from RAID)


Perry Mowbray

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Re: files and folders emulator
« Reply #5 on: April 06, 2008, 07:06 AM »
You know what, this is something I've always wanted. Many times I'm downloading something, or saving a file, that I' already have. I want this sort of thing integrated in the file system/Explorer so that when I try to do a file operation it can tell me that the file exists, and where it is.

FDM does that for me, though I'd assume that most download managers would as well. I get a pleasant surprise when initiating a download it pops up and says that it exists and did I want to continue  :D Then I have to try and figure out why I'd forgotten/not done anything with the file  :-\

It just means that I need to keep the files in one place.


Crush

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Re: files and folders emulator
« Reply #6 on: April 06, 2008, 08:41 AM »
Do virtual folders check for existing entries? IsnĀ“t there a problem with installed files that link to clones? Checking for existing files is no problem to do - checking cloned folders is only ok if you check them for all files and subdirectories by CRC. No clone-tool that I tested can do this on a folder base.

kalos

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Re: files and folders emulator
« Reply #7 on: April 10, 2008, 06:50 AM »

Jimdoria

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Re: files and folders emulator
« Reply #8 on: April 10, 2008, 11:37 AM »
Actually, Kalos, if I read your original posts correctly, JBOD is not exactly what you want since it assumes all the disks are connected at the same time. It seems like what you want is more like a disk catalog that represents the contents of physically un-attached disks as if they were still attached to the machine.

I used to work for a company that made a product like this back in the Windows 98 days. It added a "catalog" item to My Computer, and the contents of all removable disks remained browsable. If you tried to open one of the files from the virtual catalog, it prompted you to insert the disk on which it was stored.

It was an excellent product, but they were never able to market it and so it died. Remember kids, rule #1 of the software biz is that marketing trumps technology EVERY TIME.

We have a thread here (one of the largest and longest running) about designing the "ultimate" note taking application. I think we might be headed for the same thing on the "ultimate disk cataloging application". I've seen other posts about this topic recently.

It seems like there might be some consensus on what this thing would look like:
  • Virtual library - disk contents should be browsable when disks are not connected.
  • High performance is key
  • Must be able to handle massive catalogs without bogging down (cannot rely on loading the entire catalog into memory.)
  • Integrated into Explorer so there is no new interface to learn
  • Provides smart caching of files written to the virtual library (cahced locally until remote media becomes available?)
  • Can represent disconnected disks either as a single volume or as multiple volumes.
  • Must index compressed archive contents, not just the archive files themselves.

I can say this: some of these technical challenges are not trivial. This kind of program is not something one guy is going to code up in a weekend.
- Jimdoria ~@>@

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