Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!usc!aero!lubofsky
From: lubofsky@aerospace.aero.org (Nick Lubofsky)
Newsgroups: comp.os.misc
Subject: Re: Front End
Message-ID: <53791@aerospace.AERO.ORG>
Date: 30 Jun 89 19:52:10 GMT
References: <53645@aerospace.AERO.ORG> <769@eutrc3.urc.tue.nl>
Reply-To: lubofsky@aero.UUCP (Nick Lubofsky)
Organization: The Aerospace Corporation, El Segundo, CA
Lines: 43

In article <769@eutrc3.urc.tue.nl> rcpieter@eutrc4.UUCP (Pieter Schoenmakers) writes:

>Is this workable? I can imagine a computer hooked onto a network with lots
>of fileservers. I can't imagine the graph to be useful then,
>   - taking extremely much display space or
>   - needing a window with a very large extent, taking ages to traverse.
>   - taking ages to build (all directories must be known).
>   - needing lots of management (newly created directories must be reflected
>     in the graph).

It could be a window with a very large extent, but theoretically it
wouldn't take long to go to any desired point because one could invoke
some kind of a search command and go close to the desired directory
and then browse through files related by certain aspects (the precise
aspects you are searching for) quickly.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the user, the computer only needs to build what
is visible at any given time in the window. This will be quick.

>You should design these expressions carefully, since regular expressions
>just won't do, and you probably don't want users just to define a list of
>files that must be held in the directory.

The list itself wouldn't be stored, the query would be stored. I agree
regular expressions aren't very useful. A true ad hoc query would be
ideal.

>   How do you solve the problem of saving a file in an intensional directory,
>while the files does not match the intensional directory's 'selecting'
>expression?

Since only the query is stored, the next time it is requested it does
an up-to-date listing of files matching the description.

>How about using UNIX' links?

We are intending to replace UNIX.

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