"Filing" system

[talvi]

This is a very simple issue. Sadly it seems to take a lot to explain it.... AND it has to start with with an analogy as IT has redefined all the standard terms of document filing:

In a real world library with books, the books are arranged according to the Dewey Decimal or ISBN. Their position in this index is absolute and fixed. In the library (for argument) there exists only one copy of each book. There are many indexes to the books: there is an aurthor index, a category index, a subject index, a geographic index, the library is split into sections and floors and etc etc - however there is only ever one copy of each book. To locate a book I do NOT search for it (users browse and research rather than retrieve a specific title). Instead I consult one or several indexes, make my choice and get someone to fetch it for me (I used the London Reading Room!).

On my computer I have (for argument) a folder, with sub-folders, sub-sub-folders etc. I organise these in a hierarchy, NOT to reflect some universal principle of organisation (i.e pictures, documents, etc or even the Dewey Decimal system) but to reflect the conceptual ordering of the information contained in the files within those folders that is most helpful to my project/goal at that point in time. My problem/issue is that reorganising those files and folders using File manager results in the original ordering being lost OR I have to create a copy of all the files and folders - with the immediate problem that any edit to any file will result in there being two versions of that same file (same file name, different location).

Back to the real world library, File manager demands, that if a new index is created then a new library is required with a new set of books. I am looking for a way to have different "views" of the files on my computer. I imagine that their absolute location on the hard drive is always know to the OS - in much the same way as the ISBN number of any book stays the same.

What I imagine File Manager, and other systems do, is merely to provide a GUI index for this that is configurable to suit whatever way the user wants to see them. I assume that when I create a new folder the OS doesn't actually bother to rewrite all the data on the HDD to suit but just changes the GUI.If you're still with me then why can't I have many different views of the files and folders accessible to me without having to make copies????

For instance I have some files. Some are red. Some are big. Some are soft. So I set up a GUI to them that has 3 folders: red, big, and soft and ALLOCATE the files to these three folders. The files are about chairs, cars, and neckties. So I set up a GUI to them that has 3 folders: chairs, cars, and neckties and ALLOCATE the files to these three folders TOO. I can now switch between the two GUIs. I can work on a file about red cars without needing to delete the copy filed under cars and replace it with the new edit of the one filed under red. I can edit the GUIs (what I see File Manager as) at will.

Another example: A book. It is in 3 volumes. Each volume has Chapters. Each Chapter is written in Sections. Electonic equivalents of them all would be folders except for Sections which would be files. Characters in the Book may appear in one Chapter and not in others. Electronic storage means it is possible o order and re-order the book (by Volume, Chapter, Section) AND ALSO to maintain a GUI onto the book ordered by character that contains the Sections the Characters appear in. The GUIs would NOT be set up automatically. The Book would need to be proof-read etc. Nothing is changed EXCEPT the ability to view the files/sections whatever in different ways.<br><br>This seems such an elementary things and such a standard too in the real world but seems absent in IT except for the "search" functionality which is an extremely poor substitute.I'm posting hoping someone knows how to deal with this? I tried using "Libraries" but any change to the library is mirrored in the corresponding folder.

[talvi]

Sincere apologies for the unreadability of the above - this forum doesn't seem to allow basic paragraphing etc ! (nope, can't do it)

[-pops-]

There are not normally any problems with paragraph formatting.

Are you using some unconventional system to do this?

Try the old fashioned system of just typing in an ordinary manner - as I have done here.

[talvi]

:) that's what I did do.

The site requires ajax.googleapis.com ... ah yes, that was it :D

Any thoughts on the OP?

[ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb]

Sorry, I have just found this topic that has been sitting unanswered for a week.

But however many times I read the thing, I cannot figure out what the question is. You talk about File Manager - a term from the Windows 3.x aera, and GUI - a term usually reserved for a program user interface.

You talk about ISBN - a term I understand very well, since I have written a large and complex application that manages books in a book store.

The books are physically stored in bookshelves named A0, A1, A2, ...

The books are logically filed under categories like Art, Biography, Comics, ...

The books are electronically held in a database under a numerical key.

Now shop personnel and customers can list the books under different views:

• by category


• by author name


• by ISBN or EAN (useless)

Other views can be generated on the flight, without touching the books, or the data in the database.

Do we have any similarity between your question and my application?