File systems for FTP, HTTP, archives

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Nixer
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File systems for FTP, HTTP, archives

Post by Nixer »

Is it possible to create definite file system drivers to access HTTP, FTP and other internet locations as any other disk or network drive? I.e. to be possible directly execute files from these locations as well as mount network drives?

Is it possible to to treat archives (zip, rar, cab) as definite mountable file systems also?
Z98
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Post by Z98 »

What?
ROSFan
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Post by ROSFan »

It makes no sense. You can't execute a file directly from a server.
I don't know how it could be possible
They must be downloaded because your computer has to load them into your own RAM
Nixer
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Post by Nixer »

Files from a disk also should be "downloaded" into memory. Just the same with FTP. These files cannot be executed because there is no such file system driver that allows to mount an ftp location as a filesystem.
eXile
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Post by eXile »

Hi,
Z98 wrote:What?
Probably he means something like the ftp-viewer or smb-viewer which is build into the explorer. When "executing" a file located on a ftp server, it is first downloaded and then the operation for the open command is executed on that temporary file.

Cheers,
eXile.
Nixer
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Post by Nixer »

eXile wrote:Hi,
Z98 wrote:What?
Probably he means something like the ftp-viewer or smb-viewer which is build into the explorer. When "executing" a file located on a ftp server, it is first downloaded and then the operation for the open command is executed on that temporary file.
It is how it made in Windows. Because Windows cannot mount ftp as a filesystem. So it makes illusion on the shell level.
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Post by Z98 »

Providing I understand you correctly, FTP wasn't designed for what you want. You'd literally need to create a new file system for this kind of across the network syncing and access. Current file systems and operating systems basically present their drives, providing they're shared, and create the illusion that you've "mounted" them. They were never intended for what you want. I think maybe certain specialized network storage systems might be similar to what you want, but they again only create an illusion that you've "mounted" them. I don't know of any file systems off hand that do what you want, though the Hammer file system being developed by the DragonflyBSD team MIGHT fit the bill.
Harteex
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Post by Harteex »

I really don't see what the problem would be. Yes, it will be slow over the internet, and yes connection can suddenly drop. But apart from that it would probably be pretty easy. Just a file system driver that acts as a wrapper for FTP.
A filesystem driver for HTTP is already done through FUSE.
http://httpfs.sourceforge.net/
Nixer
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Post by Nixer »

Z98 wrote:Providing I understand you correctly, FTP wasn't designed for what you want. You'd literally need to create a new file system for this kind of across the network syncing and access. Current file systems and operating systems basically present their drives, providing they're shared, and create the illusion that you've "mounted" them. They were never intended for what you want. I think maybe certain specialized network storage systems might be similar to what you want, but they again only create an illusion that you've "mounted" them. I don't know of any file systems off hand that do what you want, though the Hammer file system being developed by the DragonflyBSD team MIGHT fit the bill.
FTP allows file operations and random access to files. SAMBA allows mounting. Why not to make FTP simply work like SAMBA?
Nixer
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Post by Nixer »

Harteex wrote:I really don't see what the problem would be. Yes, it will be slow over the internet, and yes connection can suddenly drop. But apart from that it would probably be pretty easy. Just a file system driver that acts as a wrapper for FTP.
A filesystem driver for HTTP is already done through FUSE.
http://httpfs.sourceforge.net/
Well seems it is what I meant but they support only read-only access. HTTP and FTP allow writing as well (though it is rarely used for HTTP).
This http://curlftpfs.sourceforge.net/ supports FTP protocol. But it all for Linux only :-(
mf
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Post by mf »

What you want is a shell extension like WebDrive. You don't want filesystem drivers for something like this.
It compiles, let's ship it!
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Post by Nixer »

mf wrote:What you want is a shell extension like WebDrive. You don't want filesystem drivers for something like this.
I dont want shell extention. I want filesystem drivers.
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Post by EmuandCo »

Windows has NO File System Driver because its not possible in the way you want it, so ReactOS does not have one, too. As you already heard you CANT mount a FTP Resource as a Files System. FTP is not Able to do this. There is only one way to do so. Load the file and run it from a existant FAT/NTFS etc Filesystem to get raw access. Windows does so and we will too.
ReactOS is still in alpha stage, meaning it is not feature-complete and is recommended only for evaluation and testing purposes.

If my post/reply offends or insults you, be sure that you know what sarcasm is...
Z98
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Post by Z98 »

After speaking with some of the other devs, the unanimous response was "that's a really bad idea from a security standpoint."

Also, we can't go around and twist FTP any way we want. There are standards one has to adhere to. Any functionality would need to be abstracted somewhat.

The question now is, why do you want this? What situation are you running into that you're asking for this?
Nixer
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Post by Nixer »

EmuandCo wrote:Windows has NO File System Driver because its not possible in the way you want it, so ReactOS does not have one, too. As you already heard you CANT mount a FTP Resource as a Files System. FTP is not Able to do this. There is only one way to do so. Load the file and run it from a existant FAT/NTFS etc Filesystem to get raw access. Windows does so and we will too.
It already works for Linux: http://curlftpfs.sourceforge.net/ How it can be impossible? Why FTP is not able to do it if it does?
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