movemetafs 0.02

movemetafs is a searchable filesystem metadata store for Linux that lets users tag local files (including image, video, audio, and text files) by simply moving the files to a special folder using any file manager.
It also lets users find files by tags using a boolean search query. The original files (and their names) are kept intact. movemetafs doesnt have its own user interface, but it is usable with any file manager.
In the name `movemetafs, `metafs means filesystem metadata store, and move refers to the most common way tags are added or removed: the user moves the file to be acted on to the `meta/tag/$TAGNAME or
`meta/untag/$TAGNAME special folder. When the target folder is such a special folder, the file is not removed from its original location (meta/root/**/*).
movemetafs is similar to LAFS (http://junk.nocrew.org/~stefan/lafs/)
(not tagji 1.1 by Manuel Arriaga). Most important differences:
- movemetafs uses MySQL instead of PostgreSQL (benefits: speedup, easier installation with pts-mysql-local).
- movemetafs doesnt require files to be explicitly added.
- movemetafs cannot list all untagged files quickly.
- movemetafs is written in Perl, so it is quite easy to extend and try out new features.
- movemetafs continues to work when files are renamed.
- movemetafs works with files with more than one hard link.
Main features:
- Use any file manager to tag files: move the file to the `meta/tag/$TAGNAME or `meta/tagged/$TAGNAME folder. The file is not removed from its original folder.
- Use any file manager to untag files: move the file to the `meta/untag/$TAGNAME. The file is not removed from its original folder.
- Specify search query by changing to the invisible `meta/search/$QUERYSTRING folder. Results are symbolic links into `meta/root.
- If you want to search for only a single tag, list the folder `meta/tagged/$TAGNAME. Results are symbolic links into `meta/root.
- Alternatively, you untag a file by removing the symlink `meta/tagged/$TAGNAME/$FILENAME.
- Alternatively, use POSIX extended attributes to retrieve (or even set) the tags associated to a file.
- Attach textual descriptions to files, and read the description once the file is found.
- Use POSIX extended attributes to get and set the textual description of a file.
- Create a recursive POSIX extended attribute dump (of tags and descriptions) from the database very quickly.
- Restore the created POSIX extended attribute dump with `setfattr --restore.
- Use versatile search query syntax (MySQL fulltext search) with the possiblity of boolean search (i.e. searching for files matching a combination of tags).
- Copy search results to make backups or to create collections.
- Searching is fast, because it uses a fulltext index.
- After installation, movemetafs can be used on an existing filesystem instantly: there is no migration needed to make an existing filesystem usable with movemetafs: data doesnt have to be copied, moved, touched etc.
- Untagged files dont have any negative effect on the speed of movemetafs, even if the filesystem contains millions of files.
- movemetafs nicely survives a system crash: non-cache data is stored in MySQL InnoDB tables (which use journaling), and even if the whole tag database is lost, the original filesystem remains usable without movemetafs.
- Stores tags in twice: once in a fulltext indexed column in a MyISAM table, and once in an InnoDB relational table. Uses the fast MyISAM table for searches, and the InnoDB table for data recovery.
- Treats file names as opaque 8-bit strings, thus it works with any filesystem character set, even when character sets are mixed in the middle of the filename.
- Uses UTF-8 for tag names and descriptions.
- Filenames in search results are automatically made unique when necessary.
- Following the Unix filesystem design, files with multiple hard links share a commond description and a common set of tags. If tags or the description are changed on one name, the changes also apply to other names, too.