Samba-vms file versions

John E. Malmberg wb8tyw at qsl.net
Thu Oct 12 17:20:27 GMT 2006


dhruva wrote:

>> Michael Ober wrote:
>> >
>> > No.  VMS is one of the few, if not the only, file system that supports
>> > versioning.  As a result, no version of Samba support versioning.
> 
> To add to this response: Samba in it's current form does not support
> this feature. However, using the VFS layer architecture that Samba
> follows, this can be implemented. Once you over ride the "readdir()"
> in the VFS layer, you should be able to see all the versions from the
> windows client.

The deluxe way of implementing such a feature would be for a VFS layer 
in SAMBA to read a file somewhere in the directory tree of a share that 
indicates how the files are to be served.

XML would probably be a good format for that file, and by default it 
would have a "hidden" attribute.

Then an extension to the Windows Explorer could be written that would 
allow the configuration file to be modified through the folder 
properties.  There are plenty of examples of these types of extensions, 
so it does not look like it would be too hard to implement.

One thing to consider is how the versions should be represented to the 
client system.  The closest convention to what PC based programs do now 
would be to put the version number in () such as (100) at the end of the 
filename.  And of course no version number present for the top version. 
Options for this could also be stored in the configuration file.


At this point, while I would like to personally look into adding such a 
feature, it is not likely that I will be.  I am leaving HP and am now in 
a full time job search.

I have passed on the information to Dhruva for building Samba V4 on VMS 
for a followup for after the V3 version is feature complete.


If you want to experiment and influence where SAMBA is going, Samba V4 
is what you need to be building.  Building SAMBA V4 requires the latest 
GNV kit, PKG-CONFIG, Blead-perl, and a specially modified Perl 5.8.7 
kit, and GTK+ 2.x with it's components.

For SAMBA V4 to run, it will require components that Dhruva is now 
integrating into the V3 version for OpenVMS, and I have not yet added 
those components to my SAMBA V4 build.


I have not yet run any SAMBA V4 binaries, and I will not be able to 
assist others in setting up a SAMBA V4 build environment on VMS until 
after I get settled in a new job, assuming that then time permits.


-John
wb8tyw at qsl.net
Personal Opinion Only

http://eisner.encompasserve.org/~malmberg/MALMBERG_CS_RESUME_2006.TXT



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