WinFS
Posts about Windows new file system WinFS
If you want to list all your WinFS stores with a brief description in a application there is an easy way to do this. I am going to show you an example of how to do this with the StorageSearcher class.
using System;
using System.Storage;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
namespace WinFSTesting
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
using (WinFSData wfsData = new WinFSData(@"\\localhost\Catalog\Stores"))
{
StorageSearcher<StoreInfo> stores = wfsData.Items.FilterByType<StoreInfo>();
foreach (StoreInfo store in stores)
{
Console.WriteLine("Store: {0}", store.Name);
Console.WriteLine("\tComments: {0}", store.Comments);
Console.WriteLine("\tCreated: {0}", store.CreationTime);
}
}
}
}
}
What I do here is first to create a connection to the data stores with the WinFSData class. The parameter I put into WinFSData is the UNC path to the stores folder.
After that a I create an instance to StorageSearcher<T> that will contain all the StoreInfo filtered from the store. It is possible to change StoreInfo to Person, Document or whatever you want.
The next thing to do is to loop through the stores and show the data we want.
This is a very simple example, but if there are something you don´t understand, please leave a comment and I will do my best to answer you.
Channel 9 released a video yesterday about WinFS with a couple of examples.
Go to Channel 9
I have finally installed WinFS Beta 1 (must confess that I never thought I would actually do this since WinFS seemed to die until today when Microsoft released beta 1).
The installation worked very well and I didn´t have too change any settings att all, all I had to do was to click at continue a couple of times. Really smooth installation!
After the installation I had to restart my computer and after the restart a new icon had popped up in My Computer.
In that folder all the different WinFS Stores are collected. After the installation you should have a DefaultStore folder there, and if you right-click somewhere in the folder you can create new WinFS Stores.
I could only set C: as target volume even though I have both D: and E:. When you click Create a new WinFS Store should be there.
Visual Studio 2005
If you have Visual Studio 2005 Beta 2 you are allowed to program the WinFS after the installation.
Files that are included in the different projects:
WinFS Console Application
- Program.cs - An ordinary console application
WinFS File Metadata Handler Library
- FileMetadataHandler1.cs - Inherits System.Storage.FilePropertyManager.BaseFileMetadataHandler
- FileMetadataHandlerInstaller.cs - Inherits System.Storage.FilePropertyManager.BaseFMHInstaller
WinFS Schema Library
- HelperMethods.cs - Empty class file
- keyfile.snk
- Schema.xml - Contains a schema for WinFS
WinFS Sync Adapter Library
- SyncAdapter1.cs - Inherits System.Storage.Sync.SyncAdapter
- SyncAdapterInstaller.cs - Inherits System.Storage.Sync.AdapterInstaller
WinFS Windows Application
- Form1.cs - Windows Form
- Program.cs
As you may know WinFS is only the code name for Microsofts new file system, but what will the final name be like?
Guess 1:
Windows File Foundation - Horrible, isn´t it? This is one of my guests since the other fundamentals of Windows Vista (Avalon and Indigo) got their Windows Presentation Foundation and Windows Communication Foundation.
Guess 2:
Windows File System - This is because of their new names for Internet Explorer which will be Windows Internet Explorer instead of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Windows AntiSpyware, Windows OneCare etc.
These are just my speculations. :)
What do you think the final name should be?
I´m not kidding, it´s actually out!
Today Microsoft released beta 1 of their new file system WinFS including its SDK for MSDN Subscribers. The reason of why they release it this early is to give the PDC attendees time to evaulate it before the PDC next month.
I can´t wait to put my hands on my own copy. :)
System requirements:
Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional with Service Pack 2 (SP2) or Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition with SP2.
A 2.0 gigahertz (GHz) Intel Pentium 4, or AMD Athlon, or compatible processor is required. 3.2 GHz or higher is recommended.
512 megabytes (MB) of RAM or higher is recommended.
An NTFS file system partition with 700 MB of free space is required to install and run "WinFS" Beta 1.
While WinFS runs with .NET Framework Beta 2 it´s compatible with Visual Studio 2005 Beta 2.
The WinFS team has also got their own blog a http://blogs.msdn.com/winfs.