Tags looks pretty neat - really fast - any thoughts by the experts ?
gravityapps.com/tags/overview/
LV
My biggest concern with it would be this:
The metadata area for files is notoriously fragile, and shouldn’t be trusted with archival information yet. This would indicate to me that this application could be useful for light keywording here and there. For someone that would want to invest many cumulative days of effort over a long period of time, and rely upon the keywords to store non-replicated data, I wouldn’t recommend it.
How many times have you lost Spotlight comments, and would you trust Spotlight comments for important data? They both use the same storage mechanism.
Thanks for the warning.
What alterntaives would you recommend?
LV
Perhaps somebody else would have a better answer for that. I’ve never personally had a need for file keywording because I have a pretty strict directory structure that I stick to, plus I have yet to find one that doesn’t rely on either a proprietary database or whatever metadata system Apple is currently hyping. Files are organised in a logical fashion, and as such I never lose anything. I prefer this method because folder hierarchies are pretty portable and difficult to destroy.
archive/comm/personNameMight hold all correspondences that I’ve had with that person. It is essentially tagging the file with three keywords. It is archived (static), a communication, and to or from PersonName.
If you think of folders as keywords, you can go quite a way using that method. Aliases can resolve issues with duplicity of meaning, and plain-text files with lists of file names can service as topical cross-referencing.
Fair disclaimer: When it comes to archive longevity and security, I’m fairly paranoid about it. I don’t trust anything that isn’t based on open standards, or can at least easily and routinely export 100% of its information to open methods. My standards are fairly high in this regard, and I have yet to suffer massive data loss as a result. I duplicate keyword information within the file itself and so forth, so even if I lost the directory structure somehow, it could be reassembled using the information in the file.
Tags does look pretty cool, but I believe there’s been an extensive debate about the advisability of the particular method it uses to ensure that its keywords are indexed, summarised here: http://tagamac.com/2009/02/using_openmeta/. This aligns with Amber’s concern expressed above.
H