Editing WinFS (section)

{{Short description|Windows data storage system project}}

'''WinFS''' (short for '''Windows Future Storage''')<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/0,1000000121,2131385,00.htm |title=Leaked Windows hints at changes to come |work=[[ZDNet]] |publisher=[[CBS Interactive]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930210357/http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/0%2C1000000121%2C2131385%2C00.htm |archive-date=September 30, 2007 |date=September 30, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> was the [[Microsoft codenames|code name]] for a canceled<ref>{{Cite news |url = https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2006/jun/29/insideit.guardianweeklytechnologysection |title = Why WinFS had to vanish |first = Jack |last = Schofield |work = [[The Guardian]] |publisher = Guardian News and Media |date = June 29, 2006 |access-date = December 9, 2010}}</ref> data storage and [[data management|management]] system project based on [[relational database]]s, developed by [[Microsoft]] and first demonstrated in 2003. It was intended as an advanced storage subsystem for the [[Microsoft Windows]] [[operating system]], designed for [[Persistence (computer science)|persistence]] and management of [[Structured data|structured]], [[Semi-structured model|semi-structured]] and [[unstructured data]].

WinFS includes a [[relational database]] for storage of information, and allows any type of information to be stored in it, provided there is a well defined [[Database schema|schema]] for the type. Individual data items could then be related together by relationships, which are either inferred by the system based on certain attributes or explicitly stated by the user. As the data has a well defined schema, any application can reuse the data; and using the relationships, related data can be effectively organized as well as retrieved. Because the system knows the structure and intent of the information, it can be used to make complex queries that enable advanced searching through the data and aggregating various data items by exploiting the relationships between them.

<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:WinFSCalendar.png|thumb|A mockup calendar application sorting images by the dates and using their relationship with contacts to filter the images. WinFS aimed at providing a shared [[data model|schema]] system that would enable such a scenario.]] -->
While WinFS and its shared type schema make it possible for an application to recognize the different data types, the application still has to be coded to render the different data types. Consequently, it would not allow development of a single application that can view or edit all data types; rather, WinFS enables applications to understand the structure of all data and extract the information that they can use further. When WinFS was introduced at the 2003 [[Professional Developers Conference]], Microsoft also released a video presentation, named IWish,<ref name="IWish">{{cite web | url = http://download.microsoft.com/download/c/e/2/ce28874c-4f44-4dbd-babb-727685e2be96/WinFS_IWish_720x486_2mbs.wmv | title = IWish Concept Video | publisher = Microsoft | access-date = 2008-07-14 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060602015536/http://download.microsoft.com/download/c/e/2/ce28874c-4f44-4dbd-babb-727685e2be96/WinFS_IWish_720x486_2mbs.wmv | archive-date = 2006-06-02 }}</ref> showing mockup interfaces that showed how applications would expose interfaces that take advantage of a unified type system. The concepts shown in the video ranged from applications using the relationships of items to dynamically offer filtering options to applications grouping multiple related data types and rendering them in a unified presentation.

WinFS was billed as one of the pillars of the [[Development of Windows Vista|"Longhorn"]] wave of technologies, and would ship as part of the next version of Windows.  It was subsequently decided that WinFS would ship after the release of [[Windows Vista]], but those plans were shelved in June 2006,<ref name="canned">{{cite web|url=http://blogs.msdn.com/winfs/archive/2006/06/23/644706.aspx|title=WinFS Update|date=June 23, 2006|publisher=MSDN Blogs|author=Quentin Clark|access-date=2006-06-23|work=What's in Store}}</ref> with some of its component technologies being integrated into [[ADO.NET]] and [[Microsoft SQL Server]].<ref name="where">{{cite web|url=http://perspectives.on10.net/blogs/jonudell/Where-is-WinFS-now/|title=Where is WinFS now?|author=Quentin Clark|access-date=2008-05-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517092633/http://perspectives.on10.net/blogs/jonudell/Where-is-WinFS-now/|archive-date=2008-05-17|url-status=dead}}</ref>