A "Search Result" FS

macfuse - Google Code

This is a very cool FS. A folder whose content is generated by a search. Just imagine how it would change the way people organize their files.


Let's say that I am managing a dozen projects, I have lots of fixed purpose folders in my home directory. Project related files are usually grouped into something like a tree (yeah, all our current implementation are trees, regardless of what OS you usually use) with the project name on the top level, document type on the second level, etc. Some of these files are inter-related or should be "grouped" dynamically. I may need a quick look of "project contracts" or "customer service open tickets". Then I am in some sort of trouble. I need to dig down to rather deep levels of directory hierarchy to different files. Of course you could say that by performing a top level search for keywords could partially solve the problem, but rather unelegantly and unwieldily.
Usually such an idea will be implemented as a "document management system" where various of such views are realized though database indices and queries. But such a system can almost never satisfy all users. Does this FS solve this problem? Not completely. One thing required is full meta-data support for files. Like tags for blogs or bookmarks, files need to be tagged too. The content should probably be analyzed and indexed, so that when any new files are created *anywhere on the file-system*, it has the chance to be included in this "Smart folder" for later retrieval, if it is tagged and indexed properly.
So for example, I would draft up a system diagram for project A, group B, phase 3, function 4 and save it to an arbitrary location. "Smart folders" that requests for "Project A" or "All files related to group B" or just a "What do we need in phase 3?" would include this file in the list. Since this is implemented at FS-level, no external system is required, your local disk is your database, all tagging should be done at or right after file creation and the indexing should be done in the background, with the actual lookup done right before the smart folder opens up.
Geez, I really *NEED* a MBP to play with this idea.