Directory-level metadata with XML or YAML

Help & Support
#1

Metadata in text files
I have directories that contain README files in them.
The readme files are written in YAML.

It would be nice if DOpus knew about these files and would allow me to view the information in tabular format in "details" view for multiple directories, or when hovering over a directory with the mouse, ... or even better, enable me to edit the directory metadata with an in-lister dialog box, just as one can do with MP3 file metadata.

Sample file

### begin_: directory metadata
### <region-dir_info>
main:
  - name    : name
    date    : created="4/20/2008 7:57 PM"
    last    : lastmod="4/20/2008 7:57 PM"
    desc    : |
        this directory contains tests for the fayt project
    notes : | 
        john has not yet had a chance to review these files
        they should be copied over to the svn repository soon

### </region-dir_info>

Bonus points: I actually have some of these little "data islands" inside source code text files as well (although obviously not in any image files). If DOpus were capable of doing all of the above, but not only for directories, but for the files as well ... that would totally rock. It'd change me from being impressed with DOpus into making it my most favorite software ever.

I thought I'd have time to develop DOpus plugins myself, but that's not looking very feasible these days. Hence these questions:

-- Does DOpus by chance have any support for COM/OLE automation for this?
-- If no to above, is there a way of getting this kind of interactivity going short of writing my own plugin?

Thanks in advance for any insight or feedback,

#2

If you want the information displayed within columns then you could do it by writing a Shell Extension column provider, which I gather is a fairly simple COM programming task. (I've never written on myself so I may be wrong but it looks simple on the face of it.)

Those are the same things which add columns to Explorer (ignoring Vista where Microsoft stopped supporting the API for some reason, but even on Vista those Shell Extensions still work in Opus).