Because it needs to be put down for Google to find: yes, a dynamic-search API and file system is a very good thing. And yes, it would be very cool if it talked NFS or Windows File System or a half-dozen other things.
The Longhorn File System (now delayed) was going to contain a full relational database that allowed documents to be linked to all sorts of nifty properties, both explicit (such as labelling, delicious/flickr/gmail style) and implicit (such as size and last touched).
And it's been done. Take a look at Placeless Documents and the possibly-obtainable Harland API. Unfortunately, Parc has ended Placeless, but the idea has surfaced before--and been nicely articulated.
It's worth skimming over the presentations to see some of what worked, and what didn't.
September 11, 2004 12:28 AM | TrackBack | in FOOCampMight be worth looking at Mac OS X Tiger (10.4)'s Spotlight which sounds as though it's probably doing basically the same thing as what you're talking about.
Posted by: Joshua O'Madadhain at September 11, 2004 07:15 PM