Hi
It would be possible to store the meta data in a separate XML file rather than the alternate stream attached to the file, but it would present a different set of problems.
For instance, where would the XML file be kept? In the same folder, cluttering things up, or, say in a meta data subfolder, or perhaps in a central folder? Then there are problems with synchronisation: how is the meta data to be moved with the file; what happens when the file is deleted, how is the meta data to be deleted; and what happens when the file is renamed, how is the connection to the XML file to be maintained?
As you can see, separating meta data from the file raises some difficult problems, to which I’ve never seen a good answer.
Dijji
It would be possible to store the meta data in a separate XML file rather than the alternate stream attached to the file, but it would present a different set of problems.
For instance, where would the XML file be kept? In the same folder, cluttering things up, or, say in a meta data subfolder, or perhaps in a central folder? Then there are problems with synchronisation: how is the meta data to be moved with the file; what happens when the file is deleted, how is the meta data to be deleted; and what happens when the file is renamed, how is the connection to the XML file to be maintained?
As you can see, separating meta data from the file raises some difficult problems, to which I’ve never seen a good answer.
Dijji