FileTable is here

FileTable is another new feature in Denali.  FileTable is the next generation of FileStream.  What this allows you to do is copy files into specified folders on your server, and they automatically get stored in SQL.  So you define a FileTable in SQL and point it at a folder.  Now, anything you put in that folder, shows up in the DB itself.  You can still view the files directly from the file system, only when you do, you’re actually reading them out of the DB.  So we’re really starting to obscure the line between DB and Windows. 

This is one of those features that’s really cool.  To be able to drag a group of files into a folder and have them automatically added to the DB is really cool.  Not only can you add/delete them, but you can also modify them.  You can set file properties using t-sql and it’ll persist that change to the file system.  So now I have to wonder what the future of powershell will be because working with a large amount of files is something we do with powershell the most.  It’s one of the things powershell does really well.  But now that we’ve got this, if we’re able to define a folder as a DB table, then we don’t have to use powershell for these types of file ops anymore… we can just use set-based t-sql. 

The possibilities are churning in my head.

One thought on “FileTable is here”

  1. Just downloaded and installed CTP1. I see FileTable in BOL, but it doesn’t seem to work in CTP1. Did it not make it in? For example, this statement right out of BOL fails (complains about the ‘AS FileTable’)

    CREATE TABLE DocumentStore AS FileTable WITH FileTable_Directory Document
    FILESTREAM_ON FILESTREAMGroup1;
    GO

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