| Re: Versioning file systems [message #386400] |
Tue, 27 August 2019 07:51  |
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Originally posted by: Carlos E.R.
On 27/08/2019 11.15, Huge wrote:
> IIRC, Files-11 on DEC operating systems (and I'm mainly thinking
> of RSX11/M here) supported version numbers for files. Again, IIRC,
> you could have a file called;
>
> TEST.DAT;1
>
> And if you edited that, you ended up with
>
> TEST.DAT;1
> TEST.DAT;2
>
> And so on.
>
> I found this extremely useful, to the extent that I've kinda
> implemented it with a lot of the day to day utilities I use
> in Linux.
>
> But ... why did it never catch on? One obvious disadvantage is
> that disks fill up really quickly if you keep every version of
> every file you ever change. I've never seen another file system
> that implements it (although I know nada about mainframes. Are
> Generation Data Groups on IBM the same kind of thing?)
>
VAX VMS had it. At the place I saw it (uni) they limited the versions to
two or three, somehow, previously they had it at five IIRC.
Yes, it was useful. I lost an assignment, overwritten by the compiler
because I declared badly the "program (input, output)" line in pascal,
somehow, and the teacher managed to recover a previous version. I
thought it was a virus, which were just in the press those days. He
laughed at me. Virus!
--
Cheers, Carlos.
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| Re: Versioning file systems [message #386408 is a reply to message #386400] |
Tue, 27 August 2019 09:44  |
Ahem A Rivet's Shot
Messages: 4843
Registered: January 2012
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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On Tue, 27 Aug 2019 13:51:19 +0200
"Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:
> Yes, it was useful. I lost an assignment, overwritten by the compiler
> because I declared badly the "program (input, output)" line in pascal,
> somehow, and the teacher managed to recover a previous version.
I don't recall which language and system it was that I did
something very similar on and overwrote my source with the compiled output.
I do recall it making me think fondly of cards and that it was very hard to
overwrite the source file when it's sitting in the output hopper of a 1442.
--
Steve O'Hara-Smith | Directable Mirror Arrays
C:\>WIN | A better way to focus the sun
The computer obeys and wins. | licences available see
You lose and Bill collects. | http://www.sohara.org/
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| Re: Versioning file systems [message #386420 is a reply to message #386400] |
Tue, 27 August 2019 12:35 |
scott
Messages: 4237
Registered: February 2012
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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"Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> writes:
>
> On 27/08/2019 11.15, Huge wrote:
>> IIRC, Files-11 on DEC operating systems (and I'm mainly thinking
>> of RSX11/M here) supported version numbers for files. Again, IIRC,
>> you could have a file called;
>>
>> TEST.DAT;1
>>
>> And if you edited that, you ended up with
>>
>> TEST.DAT;1
>> TEST.DAT;2
>>
>> And so on.
>>
>> I found this extremely useful, to the extent that I've kinda
>> implemented it with a lot of the day to day utilities I use
>> in Linux.
>>
>> But ... why did it never catch on? One obvious disadvantage is
>> that disks fill up really quickly if you keep every version of
>> every file you ever change. I've never seen another file system
>> that implements it (although I know nada about mainframes. Are
>> Generation Data Groups on IBM the same kind of thing?)
>>
>
> VAX VMS had it. At the place I saw it (uni) they limited the versions to
> two or three, somehow, previously they had it at five IIRC.
There was a DCL command to set the limit. You could also specify
a keep count on the purge command, e.g.:
$ Vaxprint/Queue=Local/Box=LESDIAGN'Node Errlog.tls
$ purge/keep=7 errlog.old,errlog.tls
$ set default 'savedir
$ purge/keep=2 Log$:diagnose.log
Modern file systems (and file servers like NetApp) handle this
with snapshots.
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| Re: Versioning file systems [message #386446 is a reply to message #386400] |
Tue, 27 August 2019 15:52 |
Louis Krupp
Messages: 92
Registered: August 2012
Karma: 0
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Member |
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On Tue, 27 Aug 2019 13:51:19 +0200, "Carlos E.R."
<robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:
> On 27/08/2019 11.15, Huge wrote:
>> IIRC, Files-11 on DEC operating systems (and I'm mainly thinking
>> of RSX11/M here) supported version numbers for files. Again, IIRC,
>> you could have a file called;
>>
>> TEST.DAT;1
>>
>> And if you edited that, you ended up with
>>
>> TEST.DAT;1
>> TEST.DAT;2
>>
>> And so on.
>>
>> I found this extremely useful, to the extent that I've kinda
>> implemented it with a lot of the day to day utilities I use
>> in Linux.
>>
>> But ... why did it never catch on? One obvious disadvantage is
>> that disks fill up really quickly if you keep every version of
>> every file you ever change. I've never seen another file system
>> that implements it (although I know nada about mainframes. Are
>> Generation Data Groups on IBM the same kind of thing?)
>>
>
> VAX VMS had it. At the place I saw it (uni) they limited the versions to
> two or three, somehow, previously they had it at five IIRC.
OpenVMS (as it's called these days) has it still.
The future of VMS is in the hands of these folks:
https://www.vmssoftware.com/index.html
and an x86-64 port is in progress.
Louis
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