Construct a HashFile with the provided path, record-size, and inital record count. The latter causes records to be pre-allocated, saving a certain amount of growth activity. Selecting a record size that roughly matches the serialized content will limit 'thrashing'.
Close this HashFile -- all content is lost.
Return the serialized data for the provided key. Returns null if the key was not found.
Return the currently populated size of this HashFile
Return where the HashFile is located
Write a serialized block of data, and associate it with the provided key. All keys must be unique, and it is the responsibility of the programmer to ensure this. Reusing an existing key will overwrite previous data.
Remove the provided key from this HashFile. Leaves a hole in the backing file
Define the capacity (block-size) of each record
HashFile implements a simple mechanism to store and recover a large quantity of data for the duration of the hosting process. It is intended to act as a local-cache for a remote data-source, or as a spillover area for large in-memory cache instances.
Note that any and all stored data is rendered invalid the moment a HashFile object is garbage-collected.
The implementation follows a fixed-capacity record scheme, where content can be rewritten in-place until said capacity is reached. At such time, the altered content is moved to a larger capacity record at end-of-file, and a hole remains at the prior location. These holes are not collected, since the lifespan of a HashFile is limited to that of the host process.
All index keys must be unique. Writing to the HashFile with an existing key will overwrite any previous content. What follows is a contrived example: