OSUser: BeOS Journal #17 - All the World's a Database (pt. 2)

Join now for free
| Search
Products OSUser Windows NT Win95 Reviews Win95 Tips Win95 Downloads Windows 98 MacOS BeOS Other Windows CE NOSUser OS News Site Guide
Advertisement
Also on ZDNet PC Magazine Labs PC Week Labs ZD Internet Labs Benchmark Tests Company Finder Mac Products Downloads At Home Learning ZDNet University LearnItOnline Magazines
BeOS Journal #17b: All the World's a Database (pt. 2) Scot Hacker, ZDNet 02/11/98 Queries Open the Door Sharing file formats and directories is only half of the good news for Be users. The other half lies in the fact that when you decouple your data from proprietary structures and formats, you open the door to all kinds of funky capabilities. Every BeOS file can store an array of associated "attributes" to an entry in the filesystem itself. These attributes aren't limited in kind or content -- People files store phone numbers as file attributes, for instance, and Bookmark files store Web page titles. Attributes can be anything! As a result, BFS (BeOS' filesystem) starts to look and act a lot like a database. Okay, it's no Oracle and it doesn't do SQL, but like any good database, BeOS includes a powerful, lightning-fast Query function that blows doors on both Mac and Windows finds, both in speed and functionality. When you combine a filesystem bearing truly useful attributes, a powerful Querying GUI, and the share-ability of these new file formats, you've just turned your hard drive into a mini AltaVista. When you use BeOS, you begin to see your entire hard drive as a database to be mined for valuable information, rather than just a collection of quasi-related files and folders. Because BeOS queries don't just find things like modification dates and filenames -- they'll pull up in an instant all the email more than a week old that you still haven't responded to. They'll find all the CD-Audio tracks on that blues compilation disc with the associated keyword "whiskey." They'll root out all the bookmarks you haven't accessed for more than a year (and couple with a hypothetical Event file, these could be automatically deleted, or previewed prior to trashing). And since queries are automatically saved, you can create collections of links to customized views of your data based on just about any criteria you choose. You could keep an icon on your desktop that would tell you instantly who's got an anniversary coming up in the next two weeks, or find all the company meetings scheduled for today and which conference rooms are still available (by querying a network drive), or preview all the video files on your LAN scheduled for deletion in July. Closed systems are dead ends. Open systems thrive. Standard file formats for data that should by rights be shareable by all your applications creates a "neutral zone" in which good things happen for users and developers. Oh, and by the way, don't be surprised if you see PalmPilot HotSynch software for BeOS uploaded to BeWare around or before Release 3. Random notes: Many thanks to Be's Michael Alderete for sharing his notes and ideas for this article. Got any other good ideas for universal file formats that would make your life a whole lot better? Take it to BeBuzz! In the Bay Area this week? Check out Be Feb. 9-12 at Software Developer's Conference '98. Need a great text/code/html editor for BeOS? Check out Pe, best likened to a BBEdit for BeOS. Tired of your solid-color BeOS desktop? WallPaper lets you tile images instead. Looking for a great little app launcher? DeposIt is handy and stays out of the way. Can't wait for the Intel release? Be has trickled out a bunch more details. Looking for daily news on all things Be? BeLeading Edge is a great resource. |
Complete List of OPERATING SYSTEM REVIEWS
| Operating systems aren't built in a day. Here's a quick list of what's not quite there yet.
| Get the latest BeOS headlines from ZDNN
| PowerMac users, download the BeOS Preview Release 2 for free.
| Talk with other BeOS users on BeBuzz, the Be message board.
| Network OSs
| Items below are available at NetBuyer.
| Operating Systems