Windows Thunderstruck wrote:While I was using Longhorn build 4053, I found a rather unique option on the new drop down menu
It is labelled Static List and when the "Static List" is created, it behaves as if it were a folder
What is the Static List for anyway? An early version of something?
There is also a Slide Show folder option, it opens a wizard where you can put pictures, I tested that (I use VPC 2007) and it does not work at all in that build (it stays at a black screen)
You know 4093? 4053 has a Longhorn Media Player as well and it looks very similar to its apperance in that build (i.e the buttons are blue instead of gray) You go to C:/Windows/floatingPlayer.exe for this prototype WMP replacement
A static list is an XML file that was intended for users to create ordered collections of items in ways that were personally relevant; they do
not hold files—much as virtual folders do not hold files—but rather references to them, which are not shortcuts in the traditional sense. When one placed an item into a static list, he or she could optionally rearrange its order within the list itself and ideally would annotate the referenced item with a comment or other details (annotations are stored in the list itself and not in the items). One benefit is that with static lists users would not have to create multiple copies or shortcuts of the same file, as the same file could appear in one or more than one list.
The reason the feature is called a
static list is because the items are explicitly defined by the user and thus do not change, which is in contrast with a virtual folder—initially referred to as an
autolist—which is a query that dynamically updates itself. It is also because an item in a static list does not need an association with other referenced items (e.g., the same metadata properties), whereas virtual folders do (e.g., all music tracks from a particular album). It should be noted that both features appear in post-reset builds of Windows Vista.
The Slide Show feature of which you speak creates its own static list with its own extension (instead of .list-ms). If I recall, 4074 also uses static lists for the staging and burning process of writing to optical media.
Deleting an item from a static list does not delete the item from the hard disk—it only removes the item from the list. But what if one deletes an item from the hard disk that is referenced by a static list? Ideally, the list would resolve itself and remove the reference; however, none of the implementations with which I have interacted in either pre-reset or post-reset "Longhorn" do this. Instead, users must manually remove the items, which is not ideal. Microsoft discusses in
a patent two systems for the static lists: one based on a database approach (e.g., "WinFS") and another based on a traditional file system with XML files—the latter implementation was preferred for interoperability. One stated benefit of the database approach is that outdated references would automatically resolve themselves; however, the patent strongly indicates that this could be achieved regardless of the system in use [emphasis mine]:
While the presently preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it will be appreciated that various changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, it should be noted that either of the above-described implementations may be employed on a processing system 1102 regardless of what type of file system is employed.
Post-reset documentation mentions several uses for static lists:
• Organizing files by project.
• Sharing files with other people.
• Viewing pictures.
• Playing music and videos.
One other example of use is that one could create a list with references to products and then annotate them with pricing information to share with other users; this was discussed in the
PDC 2003 "WinFS" AERO Guidelines.
Post-reset documentation also outlines drag-and-drop functionality intended for files, folders, static lists, and virtual folders. The table below comes from
Windows Vista 5219 and discusses
metadata painting, whereby dragging a target item on to a source item can modify or set metadata properties on the former (metadata painting was a significant and advertised pre-reset "Longhorn" feature and is discussed in the aforementioned PDC 2003 "WinFS" AERO Guidelines):
In the example screenshot of
Windows Vista 5212 below, items in a static list are annotated with comments about what the images depict. The navigation pane to the left depicts several static lists (the green icons), many of which are based on those described in patents. Additionally, though not discussed by Microsoft, the Notes column effectively allows one to add metadata properties to files that would otherwise not support them (e.g., PNG files).
One major benefit of static lists is that users could send them as an attachment in an e-mail message, instead of sending multiple copies of files themselves, and as long as the recipient had local network access to the files referenced by the static list, he or she could access the most recent versions of the items on the sharers machine
and see the sharer's personal comments.
