metadata (was Re: hey Simon et al)

[Sheldon Simms <sheldonsimms@yahoo.com>]

On Wed, 24 Mar 2004 22:41:48 +0000, Michael J. Mahon wrote:

> Matthew Russotto wrote:
> 
>>In article <pan.2004.03.23.20.49.55.469066@yahoo.com>,
>>Sheldon Simms  <sheldonsimms@yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> <snip>
> 
>>>letters at the end of a file determine it's destiny? I think UNIX and
>>>equivalents have the right idea: A file is a file is a file. Let tphe
>>>programs figure out what to do with it - the name is for the user, not
>>>the OS.
>>
>>Unfortunately, DOS/Windows have dragged the world down to their level
>>on this point.
> 
> Since a file is generally a formatted object, I can see real value in
> incorporating the type of format into the filename in a relatively
> standard way.

This is way of topic of course but...

But why the filename? Why not have Macintosh-type file metadata that
is (unlike the Mac) easily accessible? File metadata can be more than
just a filetype. I can image things like:

]cat
 Name       Type    Date       Time       Size
 myprog     s       03/24/04   22:43.23   12.2 kb

] creator? myprog
 Merlin

] version? myprog
 23

] when? myprog
 03/24/04 22:43.23

] when? myprog version=1
 12/13/03 01:15.47

] type? myprog
 s : 6502 Assembly Language

] app? myprog
 Merlin, LISA, Orca/M, asm65

] app -LISA +SC myprog
 Merlin, Orca/M, asm65, SC

] type bas myprog
 bas : Applesoft BASIC

] version? myprog
 25

] app? myprog
 basic.system, asbcomp

] asbcomp myprog
Compiling...
Error: File is type 'bas' but does not seem like Applesoft to me!

] asm65 myprog
Error: File is type 'Applesoft BASIC'

] asm65 myprog\s
1673 lines assembled

] type? myprog
 bas : Applesoft BASIC?

] version? myprog
 27

and so on....