2023-08-28 11:33 AEST by Arthur Barrett - offer cloud provider API for Windows 10/11


https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/cfapi/build-a-cloud-file-sync-engine


The cloud files API provides the following features for building cloud sync engines.
Placeholder files

-    Sync engines can create placeholder files that consume only 1 KB of storage for the filesystem header, 
and that automatically hydrate into full files under normal use conditions. Placeholder files present as typical 
files to apps and to end users in the Windows Shell.

-    Placeholder files are vertically integrated from the Windows kernel up to the Windows Shell, and app 
compatibility with placeholder files is generally a non-issue. Whether you use file system APIs, the Command 
Prompt, or a desktop or a UWP app to access a placeholder file, the file will hydrate without additional code 
changes and that app can use the file normally.

-    Files can exist in three states:

 +       Placeholder file: An empty representation of the file and only available if the sync service is available.

 +       Full file: The file has been hydrated implicitly and could be dehydrated by the system if space is 
needed.

 +       Pinned full file: The file has been hydrated explicitly by the user through File Explorer and is guaranteed 
to be available offline.

2024-07-24 08:09 AEST by Arthur Barrett - I wonder if this is an alternative way of implementing cvs4s?  What happens when an end user changes a file? 
What triggers the sync (checkin?)

So if a user 'checks out' a workspace then it would be a 'pinned' file.

But users could also use some other method to get access to files in a 'dropbox' style way and then download 
and sync (update/commit) as required.

The concept that a file may have been changed by another user must be handled in the concept somewhere.