Name: rmT116609 Date: 10/16/2000


java version "1.3.0"

This request is probably addressed to future versions of JDK.

This would be very convenient to have custom factories to implement the
alternative functionality of filesystem-related classes. Some time ago I was
experimenting with emulating the filesystem over JDBC database connection. Files
were stored in a database as BLOBs (or emulated BLOBs), file streams
functionality together with directory search functionality were implemented
using appropriate SQL statements and proper query results interpretation. In the
same time, the database provided a consistent storage for all data, thus
enabling access to file objects in alternative (not only file-stream-oriented)
ways. A database is not the only illustration: sometimes it would be useful to
access FTP and HTTP-accessible storages transparently like they were regular
files.

Of course, new applications always may be designed with these aspects in mind
(to use a database as a primary storage, or use URIs to identify file-like
objects). However existing applications like javac and other tools supplied with
JDK seem to have file I/O access methods hardcoded without any possibility to
access, say, Java sources stored in other way than in a particular filesystem.
Also in some cases it is just easier to interpret data objects as named files.
(Review ID: 110864)
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