Steps to plan a whole strategy

[jc508]

Hi,
I am starting an evaluation for a NFP I am involved with to see if XYPlorer can replace NTFS and Windows File Explorer.
Personally I have been using XYPlorer for awhile but only as simple substitute for Windows Explorer.
What I would really like now are some early pointers from you all on where to start and in what order - before I open the 'advanced features' box and get myself all tangled up.

(Trying) to cut the story short: we have a collection of about 50,000 files of which 90% are in image format as well as lower proportions of PDF, DOC etc.
Since 2019 these have been undergoing a 'Managed Asset' approach and are in the process of being 'tagged'. About 20% have been completed.
For this a handful of Windows attributes have been selected to hold our basic 'Who', 'What', 'Where', 'When'
then a tool, FileMeta by Dijji (https://github.com/Dijji/FileMeta) has been installed that allows the File Property Handlers to be modified to include in a standard pattern across all the file types we are interested in.
Then Windows File Explorer standard functionality is used to modify the attributes - in the details pane.

All was going well for Windows 7 and 10 and even 11 for a while. A recent regular update of Win 11 has removed the ability to edit attributes (without climbing down into lower 'properties' windows).
Faced with that, and the achilles heel of the whole approach in that it relied on a NTFS file system; I am looking for alternatives.
(Personally, I think Microsoft has abandoned all Metadata and features available for over 20 years, since XP, are just being washed out without even any advance notice. They never say 'you lose all your attributes when your files go to one drive')

So, I can see how to display the existing metadata columns in a Tab - but I cannot see how to edit it.
It seems, from other posts that XYPlorer can have its own fields - Custom and Extra. But what the difference? Or can it all be done with Tags?
Where would they appear? How would thay be edited? Where would they be stored? Are they part of the file in some way such that they are copied with the file if it travelled via email or onto the cloud?
Idealy it would be great if they could be edited in something like the Meta Tab of the Info Panel - then it would look like how Windows 7 did it

Thank you for your time
JC

[highend]

There is only one way to get something like this working: An additional file for each file that is - or needs to be tagged.
That file would store the necessary info.

ADS (alternate data streams) which your FileMeta is using doesn't work when leaving the file system, even copying something to a fat32 / exfat formatted stick / disk would lead to info loss and as you already mentioned yourself: this is also true when using the cloud / email.
FileMeta can export that ads info to an .xml file so at least that could be avoided when mailed but not when using the cloud.
Or at least: If you forget to export current data and reimport... Info is lost...

E.g.:

Code: Select all

D:\Bank1.jpg
D:\Bank1.jpg.tags

While D:\Bank1.jpg.tags contains:

Code: Select all

Who:jc508;National Bank
What:Banks;Streetscapes
Where:Euroa
When:Specify the period of...
Contributors:

The schema would be up to you (and ofc the extension as well)

Then a visual filter that hides all .tags files would be used so that you only see the relevant files.

Editing could be done by clicking a button (for text info only)
Ofc a html dialog to enter info could be created (scripted as well)
Inline editing isn't possible though

This would work with cloud synching, emailing (ofc two files would be mailed^^) on all local and network file systems regardless of ntfs or not.
The only requirement: XY is used on all systems and has a setup with all the scripted custom columns and the visual filter.

If the whole thing isn't something you could work with... you're out of luck

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[JLoftus]

why not use XY's tags and labels? seems perfectly well suited for the OP's needs.

[highend]

And you want to mail a partially exported tag.dat file each time, import it, export if if changes were made to the data of the files, import it back, etc.?
I've never tried to sync the tag database via a cloud provider with 50k entries but I'm unsure if XY likes that when changes are made without invoking them by itself...

Too many things that can fail or be forgotten to do them (in the right order)

[admin]

I think the multi-user tagging in XY is made for that. Read this and check whether it generally fits your bill: https://www.xyplorer.com/faq-topic.php?id=MUT

[jc508]

Thank you all for this valuable input.
Admin: I had found the multi-user tagging link and determined that it was feasible.
Its a small site and I have control over the server and clients so it should be no harder than the current mechanism where the same software and configuration has to exist on each machine.
(Easier actually as Windows wont continually interfere and overwrite the property handlers.)

JLoftus: I will have a look at tags and labels. That's somewhere positive to start - thanks

highend: I think you have caught on to my dilema quite well. I now know that XY stores its extra stuff in a database - not per file.
There are some thought leaders out there that have concluded that the only way to truely solve this issue is to get the desired, user configurable, metadata actually INSIDE the file itself.
Its just that they, and myself, have not found anybody who has achieved this.
Some file types have a structure that includes limited 'comments' or 'tags' but standards are rare and even then specific tools choose to ignore or destroy what is there.

So - in the background I can persue that thread whilst also finding something to replace File Explorer and the NTFS method in the short term.
Even if that step is still constrained to keep things inside some fence - locally.
I believe I have controlled, with 'procedures', the damage that was being caused by everybody just dumping files into the collection without any thought.
For stuff leaving the collection eg sending photos to customers, I really dont care that the extended metadata is lost on the copy.
If I know how things work and where items like the XY database are stored then I can make sure backups etc are coherent and include all the necessary 'bits' for recovery.

Windows is still a risk. We recently acquired an upgraded PC, windows immediatly stole the 'my documents' and moved it all to one drive without asking or anything.
Fortunately it was so new that there was nothing of import there to start with. To the user though they never knew they had migrated to the cloud.
Regards
JC

[admin]

Note that the tags database in XY is a regular text file with a simple format, human-readable, human-editable, and future-proof, and it will survive whatever future version of Windows Microsoft throws at us.