Re: Discussion about file format for the future

[Robert Nichols]

On 6/4/20 11:43 AM, Patrik Dufresne wrote:
> But two cent on the subject is, should we really keep this filebase ? For
> rdiffweb, scanning the metadata files is a nightmare. When I just need a
> subset of the data to be displayed to the user. I always thought a database
> could be better fit for the job. Something like a key store or similar.

+1 from me

The way rdiff-backup stores metadata is its worst feature, in my opinion.
Keeping the metadata in various text files makes analysis unnecessarily
complex and searches very inefficient. Inode data for hard-linked files
is replicated in the mirror_metadata file, except for the checksum, which
is stored just on the first entry for that inode, so you have to go
hunting for it, and make sure it is always in the right place when
that linking changes. That sort of thing just screams to be stored in
a database.

--
Bob Nichols     "NOSPAM" is really part of my email address.
                Do NOT delete it.