We got Ants on our storage!!! 🐜 ❤️ - XAnts: Small code-snippets working on your data

[pjotrek-b]

[Copy from our not-yet-public early prototype AI-slop repository]

Here are some remarks on the design and concept of "HoloAnts":

Ants are Python scripts.

This goes towards "interoperable AHAlodeck environments": Python /must/ be present and supported by all AHAlodeck-compatible environments. For the main current usecases, that should be no problem.

In (later) cases, one may want to add more languages - for broader OS/environments support.
Very likely: (ba)sh scripts, and smaller stuff (for embedded).

Ants are intended mainly, but not limited to working on xattr metadata.

In many cases, Ants are keeping your metadata tidy and in order.
The original name was "transformers".
And they are also intended to work "with or on" the payload data (in combination with xattrs).

Examples are:

• metadata only:
  Replace (RegEx) patterns with other strings in xattrs.
  Very useful for something like "exiftool.artist to dublincore.creator".
  And any other string-replacement, like "updating paths" or other text.

• metadata AND payload:
  Verify hashcode.
  This generates a hash for the payload and compares it to xattr-stored hash(es).

• Format conversion.
  An Ant could be used to convert a video file from format A to format B, using FFmpeg.
  This spawns (a) new filesystem Object(s), but requires reading the source payload, and rights to call FFmpeg command.

Ants may have Queens.

1. Queens are programming libraries, either sourced by the Ant or available when an Ant is called by a Queen.
2. Queens are Ants, too - so they may also have a Queen.
3. Self-sustaining Ants are Queens.

Queens may provide config (as lib) or settings/config, as well as "weiterführende" or common informations.
A Queen may know:

• where to find a certain executable
• certain, common program "recipes" (eg for FFmpeg, MediaInfo, etc if it's a "Media QueenAnt")

I'm not yet sure if it's better to have only 1 Queen - or multiple?
Since it's libs and code Classes, multi-inheritance wouldn't be possible with only 1...

Ants are configured by editing their xattrs.

Right-click-edit-metadata on an Ant, should reveal its required key/value xattrs used for configuration/parameters of the Ant.
This makes Ants easy to work with, and very transparent for the user. No config file, but use of xattrs.

Resolve the config from xattrs, with the following fallback order:

1. xattrs
2. variables in Ant's code itself.
   Those are also used to pre-populate xattrs with default (or empty) Ant-config options.
3. the Ant's Queen.

This is a first step towards relocating config-file settings to xattrs (in general)

Ants are small. Queens are small, but bigger.

Ants and Queens shall be highly and easily portable.