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files and folders emulator

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Perry Mowbray:
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.
-MrCrispy (March 29, 2008, 02:38 AM)
--- End quote ---

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:
Do virtual folders check for existing entries? Isn´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:
this is what I need: JBOD

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JBOD#Concatenation_.28JBOD_or_SPAN.29

Jimdoria:
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.

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