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Idea: File note

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apankrat:
Gentlemen, have you considered using NTFS Alternate Data Streams to store the notes?
This would automatically solve an issue of notes retention when files are renamed or copied.

IainB:
@apankrat: Well, I had considered ADS. It was one of the first obvious avenues I explored. So, some time ago, I ran a trial, using the "Comment" field for file notes, and it was workable, but kinda limited, given my developing requirements, which are currently:

Mandatory:

* the provision of a simple, functional and scrollable editing pane (with create, edit, delete notes).
* ability to create/insert long notes (no limit).
* ability to rapidly search for and easily view/edit file notes in a viewing pane, without having to go to the file object in question.
Highly desirable:

* ability to insert images.
* use generic tools - i.e., avoid the need to use a proprietary tool to find/read/edit the file note(s).
* to have a persistent file note which was linked permanently to the file object, and which persisted regardless of whether the file was moved, had its name changed - or was deleted (leaving an orphaned file note).
This could presumably be done in Win10, as file shortcuts seem to now use the absolute address of the file object.
The Comments field was obviously limited, but it demonstrated that, to meet my requirements, a proprietary system of some sort would probably be necessary. Also, I found that, in moving files to backups or re-imaging disks, one could inadvertently or of necessity destroy the ADS, thus making the approach unreliable in a recovery situation.

The closest I have come to meeting those requirements of mine was the Stick-A-Note tool, mentioned above - which i had been using for ages before I belatedly saw its additional potential use as an LCD (Lowest Common Denominator) file note tool.

There are other discussions in the DC forum, where file note tools are discussed, and one such tool was developed (I think it was by @MilesAhead). I recall that I also mentioned somewhere an old favourite Explorer Notes v2 - en2 (Ziff Davis), which recorded the file notes as records in the Registry (nifty idea and ahead of its time, but, again, limited).

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