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Google Drive: Shortcuts replacing files and folders stored in multiple locations

support.google.com

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Re: Google Drive: Shortcuts replacing files and folders stored in multiple locations

#11

Post by Rygian »

thesuperbigfrog wrote: post #8

"The process will replace all but one location of files and folders that are currently in multiple locations. The files and folders will be replaced with shortcuts." Is there any way for the user to specify that they want a full copy of a file? What happens if another user makes a copy of the file and alters it? Are both copies changed? "The replacement decision will be based on original file and folder ownership, an…

> This might be a deal-breaker for some users. Why not just ask the user if they want a replacement versus a full copy?

Shortcut preserves semantics: working on the original file or working on a shortcut to the original file will both modify the same document. Fully copy (create a new document with same contents as original document at a point in time) would bring new semantics.

Re: Google Drive: Shortcuts replacing files and folders stored in multiple locations

#12

Post by Rygian »

jpollock wrote: post #6

What happens to a file if post-replacement the file is modified? Does it modify the link target, or is it copy-on-write? I might want to have different copies as "snapshot" and "working", de-duping them makes any version-control-like system mutable, doesn't it?

If you were storing the same document in two folders before, you did not have two different (snapshot/working) copies. You had one document.

There is no de-duping mentioned anywhere in the Google support page.

Re: Google Drive: Shortcuts replacing files and folders stored in multiple locations

#13

Post by markstos »

thesuperbigfrog wrote: post #8

"The process will replace all but one location of files and folders that are currently in multiple locations. The files and folders will be replaced with shortcuts." Is there any way for the user to specify that they want a full copy of a file? What happens if another user makes a copy of the file and alters it? Are both copies changed? "The replacement decision will be based on original file and folder ownership, an…

You can still use File: Copy for a second, unrelated copy.

Re: Google Drive: Shortcuts replacing files and folders stored in multiple locations

#15

Post by layer8 »

snewman wrote: post #3

I worked on the original (long since superseded) implementation of the metadata store for Google Drive, i.e. the system which was responsible for tracking file / folder relationships. The requirement to allow an item to appear in multiple locations was a huge complication, in part because of the way it interacted with permissions being inherited from a folder to the items in that folder. I imagine this change may be…

So is this basically a switch from hardlinks to softlinks?

Re: Google Drive: Shortcuts replacing files and folders stored in multiple locations

#17

Post by sowbug »

If someone has a Drive desktop client installed, has two source-code directories with some identical files in them, and modifies one of the identical files in just one of the directories, I can imagine they'd be very surprised when the other copy in the untouched directory also changes.

I'm on Linux where there's no official Drive client, so this won't happen to me. (I use Syncthing instead.)

Re: Google Drive: Shortcuts replacing files and folders stored in multiple locations

#20

Post by kevincox »

sowbug wrote: post #17

If someone has a Drive desktop client installed, has two source-code directories with some identical files in them, and modifies one of the identical files in just one of the directories, I can imagine they'd be very surprised when the other copy in the untouched directory also changes. I'm on Linux where there's no official Drive client, so this won't happen to me. (I use Syncthing instead.)

What you are describing sounds like two distinct files with the same content. The change only affects the same file that has been "hard linked" into two separate folders. Copies of files are unaffected.
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