Explorer extension
Integration into Windows
One of liquidFOLDERS' unique selling points is the notion of stores. Contrary to desktop search engines, liquidFOLDERS does not link to files that reside in a directory tree, but stores the files themselves. You can create stores on your internal hard drive, but also on external media like USB thumb drives and other flash cards. A mix of both is a hybrid store, which keeps a copy of the index on a local drive. This enables you to search the store without the media being attached to your computer.
The concept of stores has got other advantages: since all files are kept in a store, liquidFOLDERS can manage rich metadata for each file. You'll even be able to model relationships between files, for example linking a picture with a calendar entry describing the event the photo was taken at. This ability to relate files to each other gave birth to the term "relational file system", by the way.
Unfortunately, keeping files in stores makes them invisible for legacy applications that don't access liquidFOLDERS. That's why the liquidFOLDERS package contains an extension for the Windows Explorer. This extension integrates all liquidFOLDERS stores and the files they contain into the namespace of the Windows file system. The "My computer" window displays a new icon which works just like another drive: you can access all stores, and inside a store the same folder structure is navigable as in the StoreManager.
If you open one of those folders, say "Documents", within the StoreManager, you'll see all your documents arranged by the attribute selected in your view preferences. Since the Windows Explorer doesn't know about these preferences, the namespace extension will provide a list of all attributes as subfolders on the next level. By opening these subfolders, you can arrange all files by the respective attribute within the Windows Explorer.
The very same technology is not only integrated into the Windows Explorer, but also into all legacy applications that access the Windows file system using the documented API calls (e.g. Microsoft Word).
Stores in the Explorer
Menu for removable drives
Store home in the Explorer
File arrangement using a virtual directory tree