============================================= Python Namespace File System ============================================= :Author: Bryan Newbold :Date: July 2008 :URL: http://git.bnewbold.net?p=pynsfs.git;a=summary .. contents:: This is an experimental implementation of a python namespace as a virtual file system, implemented using the python bindings for fusefs on unix. At this point only the global namespace of the filesystem instance itself is accessible, and only limited access is available to that. If anything goes wrong it can cause a hard lock and system crash; don't leave it running and don't try to write anything substantial. The source code can be checked out from the above URL. Features --------------- An example session goes like:: snark# ls /mnt/python/ snark# python nsfs.py /mnt/python/ *** init complete let's go! snark# cd /mnt/python/ snark# ls -l total 6 -r--r--r-- 1 root wheel 30 Dec 31 1969 DefaultStat -r--r--r-- 1 root wheel 33 Dec 31 1969 DefaultStatVfs -r--r--r-- 1 root wheel 19 Dec 31 1969 Fuse -r--r--r-- 1 root wheel 30 Dec 31 1969 NamespaceFS -r--r--r-- 1 root wheel 27 Dec 31 1969 NsfsFile -r--r--r-- 1 root wheel 17 Dec 31 1969 StringIO drwxr-xr-x 2 root wheel 0 Dec 31 1969 __builtins__ -r--r--r-- 1 root wheel 4 Dec 31 1969 __doc__ -r--r--r-- 1 root wheel 7 Dec 31 1969 __file__ -r--r--r-- 1 root wheel 8 Dec 31 1969 __name__ drwxr-xr-x 2 root wheel 0 Dec 31 1969 _find_fuse_parts drwxr-xr-x 2 root wheel 0 Dec 31 1969 errno drwxr-xr-x 2 root wheel 0 Dec 31 1969 fuse -r--r--r-- 1 root wheel 29 Dec 31 1969 main drwxr-xr-x 2 root wheel 0 Dec 31 1969 os drwxr-xr-x 2 root wheel 0 Dec 31 1969 stat -r--r--r-- 1 root wheel 24 Dec 31 1969 time snark# ls stat/ ST_ATIME S_ENFMT S_IMODE S_ISDIR S_IWRITE ST_CTIME S_IEXEC S_IREAD S_ISFIFO S_IWUSR ST_DEV S_IFBLK S_IRGRP S_ISGID S_IXGRP ST_GID S_IFCHR S_IROTH S_ISLNK S_IXOTH ST_INO S_IFDIR S_IRUSR S_ISREG S_IXUSR ST_MODE S_IFIFO S_IRWXG S_ISSOCK __builtins__ ST_MTIME S_IFLNK S_IRWXO S_ISUID __doc__ ST_NLINK S_IFMT S_IRWXU S_ISVTX __file__ ST_SIZE S_IFREG S_ISBLK S_IWGRP __name__ ST_UID S_IFSOCK S_ISCHR S_IWOTH snark# cat time snark# echo " Hello Python" >> os/__name__ snark# cat os/__name__ os Hello Python snark# rm time snark# ls DefaultStat __builtins__ fuse DefaultStatVfs __doc__ main Fuse __file__ os NamespaceFS __name__ stat NsfsFile _find_fuse_parts StringIO errno snark# ln __nameofos__ os/__name__ ln: __nameofos__: No such file or directory snark# ln os/__name__ __nameofos__ snark# cat __nameofos__ os Hello Python snark# cd .. snark# umount /mnt/python/ The root directory is the global namespace; modules are available as subdirectories and all other objects are accessible as files. Strings can be appended to; all other "files" are readonly and return their string representation. "Files" can be deleted; "directories" can not. Hard links to files are possible. Requirements --------------- This was developed and has only been tested on FreeBSD 7.0 with Python 2.5.1 version 0.2 of the python-fuse bindings. * `FUSE Filesystem`__ installed and configured on a compatible operating system * Recent version of Python__ * `FUSE Python Bindings`__ Once everything is installed and configured, the script can just be run as root; no installation necessary. __ http://fuse.sourceforge.net/ __ http://python.org __ http://fuse.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/FusePython Usage -------------- Try ``# python nsfs.py -h`` to get a list of general FUSE options. A simple mount command would look like:: # python nsfs.py /mnt/python To unmount:: # umount /mnt/python I like to run in foreground, single threaded, with debug info:: # python nsfs.py -dsf /mnt/python Really only basic command line tools work because they don't check for many attributes; try ``echo "blah" >> file``, ``cat file``, ``df -h``, ``ls -l`` etc. TODO ----------------------- Functions taking simple arguments (or no arguments) could be implemented as character devices; ``function_name.doc``, ``function_name.repr``, etc could give meta-information. File of the form ``__thing__`` should be renamed ``.thing``. New files should be allowed and saved as strings. CHANGELOG ----------------------- July 28, 2008 First implementation