File System
Singpolyma
File_System> section on the wiki and documented upload practices of
many existing projects.
Johan Sundström
Several web APIs rather present a database than filesystem interface
to content, i e Flickr and the online JSONP database I have always
wanted but (lazily) not yet formalized into a more detailed
specification.
The boundary between databases and file systems is blurred, though.
They both by necessity support CRUD operations, and some way of
identifying records; it's mostly the access patterns that vary. Flickr
(in the public, non-authenticated not-documented-as-such API) exposes
their database on tag intersections based selection criteria,
similarly Del.icio.us. I noted you mentioned neither there, so perhaps
it's just that they both are better categorized as databases due to
the general air of databaseness to them.
EditGrid and Google Pages are more clearly the filesystems approach,
though both still in their infancy, presently supporting a single
directory level and only with exposed api:s for read access to data
(HTTP GET on permalinks). GP has a fixed extension<->content-type
mapping, EG lets you configure it as you please, and also lets you
translate between different content types on the fly via XSL
transforms of your own, so a single resource can be available in any
number of output formats by permalink hacking alone.
Thanks a ton for starting this group and wiki; it's a much better
place to track the field than getting on top of each system on one's
own. I'll try to find the time and initiative to update with info on
EG, GP, Flickr and perhaps Delicious, especially if there is some page
scaffolding to just drop the information into (I'm a bit too lazy to
draw the hierarchy / categorization map on my own at the moment, I
think).
--
/ Johan Sundström, http://ecmanaut.blogspot.com/
Singpolyma
Some very good points! I have added a paragraph to the File System
page <http://webos.singpolyma.net/File_System> regarding the blurring
between FS and database. For now we'll leave the page names, but
you're right, they overlap a lot. As to CRUD specifically, here's the
pages that would match:
C - Upload
R - Download (/View ?)
U - Edit
D - Delete
It's true that I had no mention of flat-tagging systems, but I had
them somewhat in mind for some places. I have added a page for file/
object/item list operations and filled in the basics on box.net and
del.icio.us <http://webos.singpolyma.net/File_System/List>
Let me know of any categories / structure that would be helpful, I
want to make it as easy as possible for people to contribute :) The
application list on the main page is in no way exhaustive. And don't
worry too much about format/structure. At this early stage, any data
is better than no data ;)