How to hook into the windows Explorer (for network based file stores, e.g. dropbox)

Question

I might get in trouble for this question. I am willing to re-write it.

I am assuming that most major online storage services such as DropBox, OneDrive, Box, GoogleDrive etc. expose their service to the web via WebDAV. Ok, now my question is for windows client.

How does the client application hook into the windows os, so that it file requests for a file at path: F:\\myfolder, etc. map to WebDav service.

I am looking for an overview of the process for how they:

1. Discover cached files are stale
2. Discover new folder structures on the server
3. Map their folders to the NTFS structure, so that standard windows file i/o finds the files
4. Is there some sort of open source toolware that could be used to connect to a generic webdav service so that we could build our own custom client manager?

In our case, we have files with a geospatial component. So we don't to browse the server by folder structure, but rather with a map interface, and have that as the filter for what gets replicated to the client folder structure. So we are looking for components to re-use.

Answer 1

Write a Windows Shell Namspace Extension . This will give you access to a data folder hierarchy in Explorer that is not based on traditional files. The disadvantage is you will not be able to access the storage on the command-line, only in Explorer.