The FUSE ("filesystem in userspace") library/module is implemented in
many/most *NIX operating systems, and would allow a specific on-the-fly
virtual file access like you describe to be implemented in a popular
programming language (bindings for python, ruby, etc). "Classic" FUSE
examples include reading and editing Wikipedia articles as files, storing
files as Gmail attachments, logging of filesystem access, etc.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filesystem_in_Userspace
UNIX has has always been about "any/everything as a file", and the plan9
operating system took this even further. There are many, many specific-
and general-purpose "vritual file system" hacks (such as
files-as-directories, nested mounting, ramdisk mounting, the proc (process
information) and sys (system/kernel information) filesystems, the device
filesystem, etc), FUSE is just the most recent incarnation/library. The
pizza-bilities are endless!
-bryan
On Wed, 30 May 2012, Rick C. Hodgin wrote:
John,
The key point is assembling files which are presented to the app as files,
but after requesting them from different sources over the net. The data also
doesn't have to be in the literal file format that's presented to the user.
Suppose I access an overview.ods spreadsheet file on my K: drive (or
/dev/whatever). That file does not physically exist, but through InDisk is a
logical file that assembles data from a MySQL database somewhere, queries
whatever it's programmed to through the setup, and prepares the ods
spreadsheet file on-the-fly when it's requested. This allows the calling app
to receive a file as it was designed to do, but no longer directly from a
regular storage or network source. It now gets an assembled file which
presents as a real file, but all reads/writes/locks/unlocks/etc go through
the InDrive layer, which then issues appropriate SQL updates back to the
server, or if it's on another format, possibly git push's or whatever.
Does Linux/UNIX currently allow that as a generic virtual file system
ability?
Best regards,
Rick C. Hodgin
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