Who needs meta-data when you have long file names... Not me

[SpectateSwamp]

Long file names work great in my app..
If the app name has "random" in it then it will do random
The app name can be changed to force the input control file name to thename*.txt
The app name can be used as a place for passing parameters..
Keep it simple stupid works great.

Meta-data ties you to a specific app or two.
What a pathetic place to insert info. Not easy to change or add for the newbie.

Hint: when cataloguing pictures, video, audio and text data... Use long detailed descriptions in the file name..
include the YYYYMMDD which is easily searched.
Meta-data may have been some value, when we were stuck with 8 character file names... Not no more.

[Schol-R-LEA]

Uh oh. I am probably the one to blame for this. I guess Swampy decided that all my references to this group on the Daily WTF fora were an invitation.

Note that the thread I linked to has quite a lot of NSFW swearing. Especially in the part where I discuss trying to read all of the 10 KLOC of VB5 spaghetti that comprises Spectate Swamp Desktop Search, which, as I have stated here before, made my eyes bleed.

Mind you, WhatTDWTF as a whole is a massive cesspit, which is why I no longer post there and only read it is to refresh my memory on something I or someone else said in the past. While there are some stunningly intelligent and knowledgeable people there, dealing with them is often like putting an arm against the working surface of a belt sander.

[iansjack]

It's so much easier to remember and type a long, convoluted file name than a short, simple one isn't it.

[SpectateSwamp]

It's so much easier to remember and type a long, convoluted file name than a short, simple one isn't it.

Nope you are wrong.. Keep them short if you like.
I like video software that has the YYMMDDHHMMSS in the name; then I rename it to include what is in the picture / video etc.
But I guess most people don't have access to their Digital Stuff like I do. Poor SOBs all.

Long file names make it easy

[SpectateSwamp]

ThumbNails Video ThumbNails...
By changing the FileName to include start point, duration, speed and more .. You & Me got the greatest Video Thumbnails..
Of all time..
Can't do anything like that with MetaData.. Now can You.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksdXXbcZKxU

and GPS locations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zt6_eaYJNoM

[Octocontrabass]

With metadata, we attach a whole file to use as the thumbnail. You can't fit an entire file into a file name.

[SpectateSwamp]

With metadata, we attach a whole file to use as the thumbnail. You can't fit an entire file into a file name.

The entire file as a ThumbNail... That is just crazy.

[eekee]

This thread is great!

I have had similar ideas myself, and I do in fact tend to insert image tags into the file name, but Plan 9 showed me it's not needed. You can just make plain-text lists with filename followed by tags, and "plumb" the filename straight from the text editor. If you design your OS right, you don't even need long file names.

[Octocontrabass]

The entire file as a ThumbNail...

When did I say that? No, the thumbnail should be a very small file. You could pick a start point, duration, and speed, then save that clip as a separate file, then attach that file as the thumbnail.

That is just crazy.

[SpectateSwamp]

Who's afraid of Big FileNames wrecking their crappy app

I just love 'em long and informative...
Just yesterday I used long filenames to curate those videos I shot lately..

What fun it can be if you do it like I do..

First I run the Spectate feature to catalog all the videos on a device or in a folder.. (mere seconds)
In this case I'd already loaded the names with the start stop points etc..

I just needed to refine them a bit.
Then I opened that .txt file with notepad.
I selected the first video's date and time to the clipboard
Then I started the app to play the video
on request for first search item.. I pasted in the above clipboard info

And away it would go.. Playing the thumbnail selected Over and over again
as it hit the end of file for search..

THEN
I'd see where i could change the start point or speed or description..
Making that change in the text file... saving it..

Wow
The next loop of the playback for that video.. Picks up the change..
being able to adjust the start / stop point like this makes it fun.. a lot of fun.

Then next video ...

I finished the 27 clips and go through the list...
copying each files details and changing the corresponding video's name...

Then a re catalog
and run 'em all for display.

I'd been working on the app for 20 years and didn't realize the power of the long filename
that was just sitting there..

The GF catalog feature loaded the filename (and metadata for mp3) into the first #1 detail search line
the 2nd line is the path to the video

By just changing the filename to include the play details is a major breakthrough..

http://www.telusplanet.net/public/stonedan/search.exe

The search and the msvbvm50.dll
And a PC is all you need..

In no time at all you can be as good as me...

[eekee]

Who's afraid of Big FileNames wrecking their crappy app

Nobody actually mentioned this, did they? String length issues don't seem to be an issue around here. Even in Plan 9, which is full of C programmer's disease, I barely had any problems with string length in 10 years of constant use.

I'd been working on the app for 20 years and didn't realize the power of the long filename that was just sitting there..

I've had a few moments like this. They can be epic if the "I'm an idiot" feeling doesn't disable you. I've just had another one: Build a feature like Plan 9's plumber into a Forth system, and you don't need filenames at all, just numbers!

More seriously, here's an example of how I considered organizing my files in Plan 9. First a text file:

Code: Select all

/path/to/file1.mp4
	Flight of the Condor
	The BBC production which kicked off 
	the nature documentary industry, 
	covering the range of the biggest bird on Earth.
	Awesome scenery, beautiful mountains, ... whatever
/path/to/file2.mp4
	{{[{!{Original __ridiculous__ filename]$]}]].mp4
	(Worst filename I've ever seen, by a small margin.)
	Actual title if I feel like it
	Nice long description, if I feel like it.
	cat kitten goofy mlem lick frog ice

This is all plain text; it's easier to edit than filenames. To launch a file from the Acme text editor, just right-click the path. From the Sam text editor or text windows of the Rio window system, left-click the path and select "plumb" from the middle-button menu. All this would also work in Plan 9 From User Space, substituting 9term for Rio.

Note how the descriptive text is free-form. It could be grepped, although a slightly more sophisticated search would be a huge improvement on this and many other tasks in Plan 9. (Such searching is why I didn't bother identifying the fields.) Plan 9 contains the seed of an idea for such a search tool, but it's not adequately developed.

I didn't do it because I was hung up on some idea of making the filename a hashsum in some special filesystem, and then I got rid of 80% of my images anyway.

In no time at all you can be as good as me...

u tro11

[SpectateSwamp]

I'll do a screen reshoot of the playback..
The naysayers will be jealous.

[Schol-R-LEA]

In no time at all you can be as good as me...

u tro11

Yes, I said already that he was. I wasn't kidding (NSFW; just be glad I didn't link to his page on Encyclopedia Dramatica). A fun troll, sort of, but definitely a troll, or at least an eccentric.

BTW, in case you haven't noticed, this isn't actually about OS-Dev (AFAIK, Swampy has never had any interest in that topic). At the very least, I recommend that this get moved to either 'General Programming' or (perhaps more appropriately) 'General Ramblings'.

[SpectateSwamp]

The OS doesn't matter -- and never did

Back in the day. when the OS was going through changes..
If it broke your software... You changed the OS.. It was that simple.

It's the app and this app that counts..

[iansjack]

At the very least, I recommend that this get moved to either 'General Programming' or (perhaps more appropriately) 'General Ramblings'.

Even better, the auto-delete forum.