I have a wide variety of information stored on my computer:
1. Extensive directories on the hard disk
2. Extensive hierarchies of folders in MS Outlook, and
3. Extensive hierarchies of favorites in MS Internet Explorer.
I am quite dissatisfied with this arrangement because it
forces me to choose between
I am further dissatisfied with *any* of these arrangements
because they offer only single-dimensional lists. The
actual problem domain has N dimensions, e.g.
I haven't even talked about what's *inside* the files, messages and links.
Whats the solution? Do I have to migrate to Unix to find a solution? Are there any proprietary products as front-end to my legacy hard drive directories? What I need is a total replacement for Microsoft Windows Explorer or the file system itself. And the Internet or Extranet is no solution: it is being presented in the same 1-dimensional trees which Microsoft is so fond of.
june 1998: CPAs have serious, all-day-long interaction with our files. Don't settle for anything less than the best. Computer magazines want you to believe that another piece of hardware will help but I doubt it. Here are my goals: 1. No file synching hassles. After sharing copies of directories on multiple machines for the last few years, I am fed up with sorting out which is current/complete. I keep everything on a hard disk on the LAN, where I work. That location also has a 256K ADSL connection costing $35/month from GTE (my ISP fee is unchanged). I am planning on an FTP server on the ADSL site accessable from any dialup internet connection, to upload/download files. I insist on one, single repository of files, available thru the internet, with security. If I need to work intensely on a file maybe I will check it out and run from drive C: but I am never going back to having live files on multiple machines. A few seconds delay downloading will save hours of file synching woes, additional backups, and risks of overwriting caused by multiple file stores. The rule of thumb is, if it's on Drive C:, it is a temporary copy. 2. Multi-dimensional views. The Windows Explorer (like most accounting views) is a simple hierarchic list It is a 2-dimensional list of names/locations. This means that your files-by-client cannot be presented. Or files-by-type, or files-by-Employeee, or files-by-date. When are we going to have multidimensional views of the data? Microsoft is highly deficient in this area. Linux has some hopeful alternatives. I believe Oracle's "Raw Iron" filesystem may be a step in the right direction. I am looking forward to their new file system which you can issue SQL commands to.
You Are Always Looking at the Same Folders and
Files
iFS simplifies the lives of end users, system administrators, and
developers by storing many different types of files, traditionally
stored on separate servers, in a single repository.
Regardless of the protocol or application used to access iFS, you
see
the same folders and files. Your e-mail client shows you the same
files
visible through FTP, Windows, and your web browser. You can delete
and
move files through all of these clients. Anything you can do
through
Windows, including using iFS features, you can also do through a
browser.
You can work with whichever environment you're most comfortable:
Windows
desktop, web browser, FTP program, e-mail program.
Built into iFS are the content management functions all file
systems should have:
* Flexible Organization of Files
* Check in/Check out Files
* Versioning
* Access Control
* Advanced Searching Features
There is no likelihood that all the security risks will ever
be found and extinguished from the 100 million lines of code of
Microosf operating system. Infoworld prints, almost every week,
an endless list of horrible security risks for Outlook, MSIE5,
and other Microsoft products.
http://www.infoworld.com/opinions/moresecuritywatch_f.html
* Todd F. Boyle CPA http://www.GLDialtone.com/
* tboyle@rosehill.net Kirkland WA (425)
827-3107
* XML accounting, web ledgers, BSPs, ASPs, whatever it takes