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Show HN: FSQL – Search through your file system with SQL-esque queries

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Re: Show HN: FSQL – Search through your file system with SQL-esque queries

#71

Post by joshschreuder »

degenerate wrote: post #38
misterdata wrote: post #3

For those of us on Windows: Everything [1] does the job quite nicely with much less verbose syntax. [1] http://voidtools.com

I've been using this for years and it is LIGHTNING fast. No need to "index" all the files because it reads directly from the MFT. If you create a new file matching the search pattern it's already sitting in the results window by the time you alt-tab. Also, the "directory size" equivalent of Everything is WizTree [1] ... much faster than WinDirStat, which I see recommended way too often. [1] http://antibody-software.c…

Thanks for WizTree, you're right that it's an order of magnitude faster than WinDirStat. Only thing it's missing is that graphical block view, but for my usecase it will be perfect.

Re: Show HN: FSQL – Search through your file system with SQL-esque queries

#72

Post by kshvmdn »

emmelaich wrote: post #62
m00s3 wrote: post #11

Seems if the query is always going to start with SELECT, that maybe it should be assumed? I would never use this though, ack or find seem sufficient to me.

Yeah, I like the idea of using sql but it is painful to write. It would be nice to omit the select and the quoting; my suggestion would be that fsql "select * from ..." could be written as select all from ... and all could be assumed if ommitted; so you could write select from or just from ... But unfortunately `select` is a sh(1) reserved word and `from` is an existing command! (shows who who your mail is from) So m…

I like this! I've started work on this [0], feel free to add to the issue if you'd like.

[0] https://github.com/kshvmdn/fsql/issues/10

Re: Show HN: FSQL – Search through your file system with SQL-esque queries

#73

Post by evincarofautumn »

m00s3 wrote: post #11

Seems if the query is always going to start with SELECT, that maybe it should be assumed? I would never use this though, ack or find seem sufficient to me.

It could be extended with other queries like “update” for batch file operations, I suppose. Like you, I’m fine with my existing suite of find/grep/ack/awk/perl/whatever, but I already know how to use them; a beginner or someone who doesn’t live their whole life at a Unix terminal could probably benefit from the simpler interface.

Re: Show HN: FSQL – Search through your file system with SQL-esque queries

#74

Post by jonaf »

crivabene wrote: post #60

Does anyone remember WinFS (1)? Bill Gates described it as his biggest product regret (2). I remember I thought it was brilliant. Too bad it was probably a little bit too futuristic for its time, as for a few other things they launched when it just was not the right time... the clunky Tablet PCs (3) were for sure another example. (1) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/WinFS (2) http://www.zdnet.com/article/bill-gates-bi…

To clarify the comment re: Bill Gates biggest regret, his biggest regret according to the referenced article was that Microsoft never shipped WinFS. He did not regret the product itself. It was unclear to me what the parent meant, as my first question was, "If he regretted it, did he allude to reasons why it's a bad idea?" But that question no longer makes sense when you realize that the Mr Gates ostensibly still believes in the idea.

Re: Show HN: FSQL – Search through your file system with SQL-esque queries

#76

Post by danans »

vondur wrote: post #75

I think the BeOS had a file system that was set up like a database that could be queried.

It sure did. Alas at the time I had a BeBox in college (mid-late 90s) I didn't know SQL yet ;) I think it just searched over file metadata, not contents, though I might be mistaken.

Re: Show HN: FSQL – Search through your file system with SQL-esque queries

#77

Post by Retra »

Koshkin wrote: post #31
amasad wrote: post #23

Did someone come up with a generalized rule about putting SQL on top of every possible system that contains queryable information? Here is first-pass: >eventually every system that contains information that can be queried will have a sql interface

SQL is the standard language for querying relational data, so why not.

It's not a great standard. Practically keywords the whole English language...

Re: Show HN: FSQL – Search through your file system with SQL-esque queries

#78

Post by LgWoodenBadger »

UnfairIsaac wrote: post #66
crivabene wrote: post #60

Does anyone remember WinFS (1)? Bill Gates described it as his biggest product regret (2). I remember I thought it was brilliant. Too bad it was probably a little bit too futuristic for its time, as for a few other things they launched when it just was not the right time... the clunky Tablet PCs (3) were for sure another example. (1) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/WinFS (2) http://www.zdnet.com/article/bill-gates-bi…

That was my first thought, too. I'd love a file system that was more like a relational database. Also see the Pick operating system.

Transactional ACID updates to file systems would be pretty fantastic.

Re: Show HN: FSQL – Search through your file system with SQL-esque queries

#79

Post by howderek »

atemerev wrote: post #55

I wanted to write the exact opposite: a Mysql/Postgres client as a FUSE filesystem driver. Namespaces -> folders, tables -> (editable) CSV files, stored procedures and settings accessible as (editable) plain text files.

If someone put data in a column that wasn't valid, like a string in a bigint column, would the table be altered or would the FUSE driver refuse to make the change?

Re: Show HN: FSQL – Search through your file system with SQL-esque queries

#80

Post by tyingq »

bpchaps wrote: post #69
tyingq wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

His description sounded like it would do joins across different hosts. Osquery looks to be single host at a time only.

Yep. I'm specifically writing it to find any log file that isn't being pushed into our third party logging service. It's a surprisingly difficult problem, especially considering the amount of tech sprawl that's accumulated. Since it's also a relatively low latency environment, it has to be written in a way that doesn't add too much load (without core isolation..).

You could use the audit subsystem. https://www.linux.com/learn/customized-file-monitoring-audit...
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