Not a direct port, but a rewrite.
Differences include:
- Different GUI
- Java-based Apache Tika library for metadata extraction is NOT integrated to reduce bloat
- A complete redesign based on .NET Framework API
with no regard for maintaining code resemblence to original Java version(See update below)
Note on compatibility with Java-based WRECK
WRECK.NET started with the original stance that it would be a simplified total re-implementation in .NET like a separate application without aiming for feature parity. This is to enable me to focus on rapid development of a working .NET application with the core functionalities completed.
Much has changed since then. As the prototype Windows Forms application took shape and began working, I began to become ambitious in trying to make the two code bases look similar. This is to enable me to update both applications in future.
Since 10 Jan 2024, I have been incorporating as much reusable logic as possible, to the point where I was doing a line-by-line porting for the core classes and methods. In summary, most of the crucial backend and file processing logic have been ported over.
Update on 7 March 2024
- A
JShimJava Runtime API emulation layer to mirror call references to classes and method that wraps around the .NET API - Majority of codes from the original WRECK has been ported over
What are still missing or different today?
- Charting of the statistics (given that the UI is not the same)
- More statistics tracking and reporting
- Missing file attributes backup, restoration and verification function.
In fact, I have been working on the .NET version and finding it more efficient and lightweight than the Java version. In all likelihood, I will continue to focus more on the .NET version going into the future.
The original Java WRECK may become stagnant with no updates or new features.
WRECK.NET is a C#.NET desktop utility tool to restore the file system timestamp attributes of files using the recorded metadata if possible and rules / heuristics as a backup method on a best-effort basis. (See Caveats for more details on the assumptions made).
The name WRECK is an acronym for Walk, Retrieve, Extract, Correct and Keep.
- Walk a given starting path or a single file
- Retrieve each file or directory encountered
- Extract metadata from it
- Correct the file system timestamps (creation, last modified, last accessed) using embedded metadata. In the absence of any useful metadata, it fallbacks to using rules, heuristics and guesswork for estimating an approximate appropriate timestamp on a best-effort basis (Refer to Caveats).
- Keep the files for archival and preservation
It essentially processes files and directories recursively, extracting embedded metadata from common file formats (e.g. Microsoft Office documents, JPEG photos, MP4 videos, MP3 audio) using a few libraries to maximize success in metadata extraction, work out the appropriate timestamps, correct them in the file system, and finally leaving the files ready for archival and preservation.
For more information, see the Wiki.