File System
File system
File names
A file name is a name assigned to a file in order to secure storage location in the computer memory. Whether the file system has an underlying storage device or not, file systems typically have directories which associate file names with files, usually by connecting the file name to an index in a file allocation table of some sort, such as the FAT in a DOS file system, or an inode in a Unix-like file system. Directory structures may be flat, or allow hierarchies where directories may contain subdirectories. In some file systems, file names are structured, with special syntax for filename extensions and version numbers. In others, file names are simple strings, and per-file metadata is stored elsewhere. A file name is a name assigned to a file in order to secure storage location in the computer memory.By this file name a file can be further accessed
Metadata
Other bookkeeping information is typically associated with each file within a file system. The length of the data contained in a file may be stored as the number of blocks allocated for the file or as an exact byte count. The time that the file was last modified may be stored as the file's timestamp. Some file systems also store the file creation time, the time it was last accessed, and the time that the file's meta-data was changed. (Note that many early PC operating systems did not keep track of file times.) Other information can include the file's device type (e.g., block, character, socket, subdirectory, etc.), its owner user-ID and group-ID, and its access permission settings (e.g., whether the file is read-only, executable, etc.).
Arbitrary attributes can be associated on advanced file systems, such as XFS, ext2/ext3, some versions of UFS, and HFS+, using extended file attributes. This feature is implemented in the kernels of Linux, FreeBSD and Mac OS X operating systems, and allows metadata to be associated with the file at the file system level. This, for example, could be
File names
A file name is a name assigned to a file in order to secure storage location in the computer memory. Whether the file system has an underlying storage device or not, file systems typically have directories which associate file names with files, usually by connecting the file name to an index in a file allocation table of some sort, such as the FAT in a DOS file system, or an inode in a Unix-like file system. Directory structures may be flat, or allow hierarchies where directories may contain subdirectories. In some file systems, file names are structured, with special syntax for filename extensions and version numbers. In others, file names are simple strings, and per-file metadata is stored elsewhere. A file name is a name assigned to a file in order to secure storage location in the computer memory.By this file name a file can be further accessed
Metadata
Other bookkeeping information is typically associated with each file within a file system. The length of the data contained in a file may be stored as the number of blocks allocated for the file or as an exact byte count. The time that the file was last modified may be stored as the file's timestamp. Some file systems also store the file creation time, the time it was last accessed, and the time that the file's meta-data was changed. (Note that many early PC operating systems did not keep track of file times.) Other information can include the file's device type (e.g., block, character, socket, subdirectory, etc.), its owner user-ID and group-ID, and its access permission settings (e.g., whether the file is read-only, executable, etc.).
Arbitrary attributes can be associated on advanced file systems, such as XFS, ext2/ext3, some versions of UFS, and HFS+, using extended file attributes. This feature is implemented in the kernels of Linux, FreeBSD and Mac OS X operating systems, and allows metadata to be associated with the file at the file system level. This, for example, could be