Ray
Tue Sep 21 17:53:57 CDT 2004
What he said... Also:
Files in Windows don't work that way. If you introduce a "file" like
this, you are going to confuse users who expect files to be fixed
entities sitting on disk.
Shattering the user interface paradigm for (extremely) marginal features
is generally considered a "bad idea". It usually leads to numerous
unintended consequences.
Here's one example "unintended consequence": if you implemented
something like this, you would also have to be very careful not to open
up any security holes just because someone shares their disk on the
network. Being able to see the status of J. Random Driver on someone
elses machine just by opening a file strikes me as a very unnecessary
risk. And if you have any bugs in your driver's handling of this file,
you've now created a network vulnerability rather than just a local one.
How about a program called "SeeStatus.exe" instead? The user can double
click on it or type it in Start->Run just as easily, and get a result
that works the same way as all the other things on their machine.
Also, think about this: what if everyone did it? Do you really want 2
dozen file system filter drivers sitting around introducing bugs into
your *entire filesystem* just so someone could (hypothetically) type
"notepad filename" into a command prompt and have some status
information appear?
Robby Tanner wrote:
> "beginthreadex" <thomas_remkus@westwoodone.com> wrote in message
> news:%23lRxai9nEHA.2808@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
>
>
>>So the answer is no? This is not possible?
>
>
> The answer is of course you can and it probably isn't worth the trouble and
> expense when a viable, platform-agnostic, open-source (or proprietary,
> whatever suits you) solution is just around the corner. You need to take a
> really good look at the cost and benefits of accomplishing what you want and
> contrast them to alternatives. Such as the one presented here.
>
> Everything you require could be accomplished via a server side script. Many
> sys admin tasks are being handled over HTML and other internet-enabled
> technologies and services. With a little extra work, you can secure the
> data. If all you want is some text information what does opening
> "C:\Whateverdir\fake.file" in notepad have over opening
> "
http://systemname/fake.htm" (or fake.php or fake.asp or whatever) in
> Internet Explorer? All I can see is that you don't have to go to great
> effort, it is automatically remote and it is all done more-or-less in user
> space. The data is readonly and is a snapshot (HTML is stateless).
>
>
>>just say "type fake.file > real.file" and it would be created.
>
>
> To save a copy, simply add a button to your form to open a "Save As..."
> dialog
>
>
>>I need to put this on a
>>project recomendation if they want this done.
>
>
> I don't know all the details of why you are leaning toward this solution of
> course, but I personally would not put my name on this recommendation.
> Whatever that's worth.
>
> Cheers,
> Rob
>
>
--
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