Dilwyn,
What I have seen done is:
- if another copy of a file exists in the trashcan, rename the copy being moved there (IE: _1, _2, _3). This doesn't require a date thing but, using the date code on the file would be about the same thing).
Also, if you don't mind, I would like to 'borrow' your trashcan concept for QDT. I have this thing about standards - love them. Any objections?
Jim
On Sunday, January 19, 2003, at 10:06 AM, Dilwyn Jones wrote:
Far too complex for what is a fairly simple compiled basic piece of code as outlined. No chance whatsoever of this being done - Q-Trans has no date handling routines or file stats facilities anyway, plus the simple minded approach means the Q-Trash (or whatever you call it) can be manipulated by any file handler.Dilwyn ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, January 19, 2003 3:52 PM Subject: Re: [ql-users] Q-Trans Trash canIn a message dated 19/01/03 15:12:05 GMT Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:I've added a Trash-can facility to Q-Trans and would like some feedback on how it should work. Basically, it's a short onecharacterlength named folder on a specified drive (e.g. WIN1_*_) into which files are moved rather than being deleted as such, so that adegree ofrestoration of 'deleted' files is possible. Note: it's not the same trashcan as Phil Borman implemented inlaterQubides.Phew - there were some terrible problems with that Trashcan, whichmade meabandon it in the end!!The feedback I'd like is on the name convention for files in the trashcan. Since it's basically a very primitive facility,equivalentto: REMark DELETE drive$&directory$&filename$ DELETE trashcan$&filename$ COPY drive$&directory$&filename$ TO trash$&filename$ Option 1 would be just as above, the "pure" filename is all yousee inthe trashcan, so it can be restored to anywhere and you don't see where it came from. Option 2 would copy the original path name and filename into the trashcan, so that you can see where the file came from and whereitwould be restored to, the snag being name lengths allowed by theQLfiling systems. The longest allowable QL path length is 41characters(36 character filename plus drive name length), so it would meanlongnames being truncated. Consider when you have a long path namesuch asWIN1_work_xchangefiles_docs_ (28 characters) and a filename like workfile_doc (12 characters) this comes to 40 characters in all,butcopy it to a trashcan folder named win1_*_ and you'd get win1_*_win1_work_xchangefiles_docs_workfile_doc (47 characters inall)which would be truncated towin1_*_win1_work_xchangefiles_docs_workfiOption 3 would be similar to option 2 but only the directory name(notthe drive name) is used, reducing the risk of truncated filenames. So while option 2 or 3 allows you to see where the file came from, they have a greater risk of truncated filenames. Option 1 doesn't store info int he filename about where the file came from, but doesn't have such a risk of truncated filenames. Option 4 would be to make the program configurable to allow any oftheoptions, equivalent to this in BASIC in the way it would work: <<Cut>>Dilwyn, there seems to be a much better option. The best trashcanwould beable to store various versions of the same file, sorted by originaldateorder, then you could choose which one to restore. I would suggest that either you need an index file and create yourownshortened filenames to store these in the directory, or possiblyeasier, addsome sort of header to each file to identify the details. You should store: 1) original directory path 2) original file name 3) date file was created 4) date file was deleted 5) Expiry date (? Suggestion - automatically clear all files in thetrashcanafter 60 days or so - user defined) -- Rich Mellor RWAP Software 35 Chantry Croft, Kinsley, Pontefract, West Yorkshire, WF9 5JH TEL: 01977 610509 http://hometown.aol.co.uk/rwapsoftware