Re: Accessing Windows File Comments

Thanks for the input, all. I decided to write a quick and easy Web-based file manager using my database to store the comments, as suggested. Thanks! Floyd On Feb 25, 2010, at 11:52 AM, Ashley Sheridan wrote: > On Thu, 2010-02-25 at 15:34 +0000, Richard Quadling wrote: >> >> On 25 February 2010 15:16, Richard Quadling <rquadling@googlemail.com> wrote: >> > On 25 February 2010 14:59, Floyd Resler <fresler@adex-intl.com> wrote: >> >> One of my users has asked if I can display comments with a file list on their >> >> site. So I thought I might be able to use the comments from the properties of the file. Is there >> >> any way I can access this from PHP? The files are actually stored on a Linux box. >> >> >> >> Thanks! >> >> Floyd >> >> Using LADS on a file I just added a title and summary to ... >> >> LADS - Freeware version 4.10 >> (C) Copyright 1998-2007 Frank Heyne Software (http://www.heysoft.de) >> This program lists files with alternate data streams (ADS) >> Use LADS on your own risk! >> >> Scanning directory D:\Personal >> Files\Downloads\Software\Programming\PHP\Browscap\ >> >> size ADS in file >> ---------- --------------------------------- >> 88 D:\Personal >> >> Files\Downloads\Software\Programming\PHP\Browscap\php_browscap.ini:♣DocumentSummaryInformation >> 204 D:\Personal >> Files\Downloads\Software\Programming\PHP\Browscap\php_browscap.ini:♣SummaryInformation >> 0 D:\Personal >> >> Files\Downloads\Software\Programming\PHP\Browscap\php_browscap.ini:{4c8cc155-6c1e-11d1-8e41-00c04fb9386d} >> >> 292 bytes in 3 ADS listed >> >> >> The funny looking symbol can is character #5 which can be entered as >> ^E. So, ... >> >> more < php_browscap.ini:^ESummaryInformation > lad.log >> >> The file lad.log now contains the content of the SummaryInformation >> alternative data stream. >> >> The format of the content of the streams I don't know, sorry. >> >> >> -- >> ----- >> Richard Quadling >> "Standing on the shoulders of some very clever giants!" >> EE : http://www.experts-exchange.com/M_248814.html >> EE4Free : >> http://www.experts-exchange.com/becomeAnExpert.jsp >> Zend Certified Engineer : >> http://zend.com/zce.php?c=ZEND002498&r=213474731 >> ZOPA : http://uk.zopa.com/member/RQuadling >> > > If the files exist on a Linux server, then you're out of luck, because as Richard said, > this information is kept in the alternate data streams, which is part of the NTFS filesystem (and I > don't know anyone crazy enough to install Linux onto an NTFS formatted partition!) > > What you could do is store the filenames in a database, and use a second table for the > comments, attributing them to a file. This would lend itself well for web-based use, but will cause > problems if you move the files (as the database would lose track of them) > > Some file formats are built to allow extra data though. For example, images have EXIF data, for > which there are ways to read (and write afaik) within PHP. Most audio formats have this, and I would > assume video formats too. You'll probably find most file formats have something available for > this, but the deployment will vary from file type to file type. > > Thanks, > Ash > http://www.ashleysheridan.co.uk > >