Stephen Forte`s Blog - WinFS at PDC

Friday, October 24, 2003

WinFS at PDC

WinFS at PDC

The PDC will be all about Longhorn, Yukon and Whidbey (and maybe some Web Services crap too.) Since I am writing the Yukon book for MS Press and have been playing with it almost all year and Whidbey is now in alpha, Longhorn is what I want to see the most of. As a developer, WinFS seems the most important.

So the future of the file system in Windows is WinFS. The hints are that WinFS will "leverage database technolgies." What exactly does that mean? Hummmmmmm. SQL Server?

Here are the sessions to look at:

WinFS: File System and Storage Advances in Windows "Longhorn": Overview

Track: Client   Code: CLI201
Room: Room 150/151/152/153   Time Slot: Tue, October 28 2:00 PM-3:15 PM
Room: Room501ABC   Time Slot: Wed, October 29 2:00 PM-3:15 PM
Learn about the next generation storage platform for Windows! In "Longhorn" we're advancing the File System into a Storage Platform for storing structured, file and XML data. Leveraging database technologies, the "Longhorn" storage platform manages data for organizing, searching and sharing. The storage platform also allows for data synchronization across other "Longhorn" and foreign data sources. The new storage platform supports rich managed "Longhorn" APIs as well as Win32 APIs.

WinFS: File System Integration

Track: Client Code: CLI326
Room: Room 152/153 Time Slot: Wed, October 29 11:30 AM-12:45 PM
Speakers: Sanjay Anand
This session provides an overview of the File System and Security features of WinFS, including but not limited to a drilldown into the WinFS namespace, file system integration and Win32 support. We also cover the WinFS security model including authentication, authorization and encryption features that help you secure your data as well as build security into your applications. Learn how you can integrate your file-based content into WinFS using WinFS property promotion infrastructure or build support for integrating with WinFS search capabilities.

WinFS: Schemas and Extensibility

Track: Client Code: CLI322
Room: Room 409AB Time Slot: Wed, October 29 10:00 AM-11:15 AM
Speakers: J. Patrick Thompson, Toby Whitney
The WinFS schemas are the data and API definition that ship with Windows. The Windows Schemas define documents, contacts, system and person tasks, and much more. Learn about the thinking behind the designs of the Windows Schemas and how you can extend the schemas that ship with Windows, create your own schemas, and extend WinFS.

WinFS: Schemas, Extensibility and the Storage User Experience

Track: Client Code: CLI323
Room: Room 409AB Time Slot: Wed, October 29 2:00 PM-3:15 PM
Speakers: Nat Ballou
Windows "Longhorn" introduces an entirely new user storage experience and model around the storage of user's data. Get an introduction to new concepts such as: dynamic sets, static sets, and views, with a quick overview of the "Longhorn" storage user experience. Focus on how you can present application-specific data in Windows as well as re-use "Longhorn" components to build rich "Longhorn" applications.

WinFS: Using Windows "Longhorn" Storage ("WinFS") in Your Application (Part 1)

Track: Client Code: CLI320
Room: Room 409AB Time Slot: Tue, October 28 3:45 PM-5:00 PM
Speakers: John Ludeman
The preferred method of access to the advanced features of the new Windows Future Storage (WinFS) is through the WinFS API. This session starts by covering the broad set of concepts that form the foundation of the WinFS API design, and then delve into specific code examples. You will be able to write a simple application against WinFS by the time this session is complete. The walk-through includes connecting to the store, basic enumeration and queries, saving changes back to the store and the associated transactional semantics. Folder and Filestream access are also discussed. Basic data change notification scenarios round out the core examples.

WinFS: Using Windows "Longhorn" Storage ("WinFS") in Your Application (Part 2)

Track: Client Code: CLI321
Room: Room 409AB Time Slot: Tue, October 28 5:15 PM-6:30 PM
Speakers: Mike Deem
In part 2 of the WinFS API session, we jump right into the deep end and cover the advanced features of the WinFS API, including rich view support, support for XML types, asynchrony, using the "Avalon" data binding support, using the interfaces from COM, how to build your own schemas and extensions on WinFS, the different relationship lifetimes and the associated semantics. A key component of the WinFS architecture will allow for ISVs to extend the same base schemas to maximize information sharing or even create their own schemas. How and where to extend WinFS is discussed, along with the schema and API creation process. Part 1 should be considered a prerequisite for taking this session.