My problem is the following:
I usually backup files (e.g. pictures) on external harddisc drives and the store them away in safe places. In the meantime also on NAS. But I don't want to have them connected and online all the time, for power and security reasons.
If I'm now looking for an old file (e.g. a special jpg from the holiday in April 2004) I would have to connect a few discs and search them for the needed file.
To overcome this problem I usually create a recursive dir-dump into a textfile for the whole disc after backup.
This way I can search the filename in the text-file.
But there still is a problem if I don't exactly know the file name that I am looking for. I know the Year and month and maybe the camera I was using then, but there must be hundreds of files in this month.
Therefore I would like to create a "dummy"-backup-filesystem with all the filesnames on the harddisc but without the actual data behind it. This way I could click through the folders and see the foldernames and filenames and easily find the respective file.
The question is: How do I create such a filesystem copy with the complete folderstructures but only the filenames and not the data?
I'm working on Linux, Opensuse, but I guess this is not a linux specific question.
In the meantime I found the solution I was looking for:
Virtual Volume View: http://vvvapp.sourceforge.net/
Works with Linux, MacOS and Windows!