Pseudo-hierarchical folders and directories

Although you cannot nest directories in OpenStack Object Storage, you can simulate a hierarchical structure within a single container by adding forward slash characters (/) in the object name. To navigate the pseudo-directory structure, you can use the delimiter query parameter. This example shows you how to use pseudo-hierarchical folders and directories.

Note

In this example, the objects reside in a container called backups. Within that container, the objects are organized in a pseudo-directory called photos. The container name is not displayed in the example, but it is a part of the object URLs. For instance, the URL of the picture me.jpg is https://swift.example.com/v1/CF_xer7_343/backups/photos/me.jpg.

List pseudo-hierarchical folders request: HTTP

To display a list of all the objects in the storage container, use GET without a delimiter or prefix.

$ curl -X GET -i -H "X-Auth-Token: $token" \
 $publicurl/v1/AccountString/backups

The system returns status code 2xx (between 200 and 299, inclusive) and the requested list of the objects.

photos/animals/cats/persian.jpg
photos/animals/cats/siamese.jpg
photos/animals/dogs/corgi.jpg
photos/animals/dogs/poodle.jpg
photos/animals/dogs/terrier.jpg
photos/me.jpg
photos/plants/fern.jpg
photos/plants/rose.jpg

Use the delimiter parameter to limit the displayed results. To use delimiter with pseudo-directories, you must use the parameter slash (/).

$ curl -X GET -i -H "X-Auth-Token: $token" \
 $publicurl/v1/AccountString/backups?delimiter=/

The system returns status code 2xx (between 200 and 299, inclusive) and the requested matching objects. Because you use the slash, only the pseudo-directory photos/ displays. The returned values from a slash delimiter query are not real objects. The value will refer to a real object if it does not end with a slash. The pseudo-directories have no content-type, rather, each pseudo-directory has its own subdir entry in the response of JSON and XML results. For example:

[
  {
    "subdir": "photos/"
  }
]

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<container name="backups">
  <subdir name="photos/">
    <name>photos/</name>
  </subdir>
</container>

Use the prefix and delimiter parameters to view the objects inside a pseudo-directory, including further nested pseudo-directories.

$ curl -X GET -i -H "X-Auth-Token: $token" \
 $publicurl/v1/AccountString/backups?prefix=photos/&delimiter=/

The system returns status code 2xx (between 200 and 299, inclusive) and the objects and pseudo-directories within the top level pseudo-directory.

photos/animals/
photos/me.jpg
photos/plants/

[
  {
    "subdir": "photos/animals/"
  },
  {
    "hash": "b249a153f8f38b51e92916bbc6ea57ad",
    "last_modified": "2015-12-03T17:31:28.187370",
    "bytes": 2906,
    "name": "photos/me.jpg",
    "content_type": "image/jpeg"
  },
  {
    "subdir": "photos/plants/"
  }
]

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<container name="backups">
  <subdir name="photos/animals/">
    <name>photos/animals/</name>
  </subdir>
  <object>
    <name>photos/me.jpg</name>
    <hash>b249a153f8f38b51e92916bbc6ea57ad</hash>
    <bytes>2906</bytes>
    <content_type>image/jpeg</content_type>
    <last_modified>2015-12-03T17:31:28.187370</last_modified>
  </object>
  <subdir name="photos/plants/">
    <name>photos/plants/</name>
  </subdir>
</container>

You can create an unlimited number of nested pseudo-directories. To navigate through them, use a longer prefix parameter coupled with the delimiter parameter. In this sample output, there is a pseudo-directory called dogs within the pseudo-directory animals. To navigate directly to the files contained within dogs, enter the following command:

$ curl -X GET -i -H "X-Auth-Token: $token" \
 $publicurl/v1/AccountString/backups?prefix=photos/animals/dogs/&delimiter=/

The system returns status code 2xx (between 200 and 299, inclusive) and the objects and pseudo-directories within the nested pseudo-directory.

photos/animals/dogs/corgi.jpg
photos/animals/dogs/poodle.jpg
photos/animals/dogs/terrier.jpg