ansi c and directories

Jeff Beard jbeard at quintus.UUCP
Tue Dec 5 03:51:31 AEST 1989


>
>> 	I'm sure the concept of a file is more inherit to operating
>> systems than is the concept of a directory.
>
>In any system for which files have names, there is at least one directory.
>
>`-_-' Peter da Silva. +1 713 274 5180. <peter at ficc.uu.net>.

Sorry Peter, IBM MVS and  DOS/VSE both have file names without resorting to
a directory file structure.

We have a name clash on 'DIRECTORY'.

Files must be anchored somehwere and sometimes it is in an object called a
directory.  This may or may not be the same as a file system that is implemented
as a hierarchal directory (as in Unix).  In the MVS and DOS/VSE cases cited, 
each physical disk contains a VTOC in which all file names on that volume are 
recorded.  File names may *appear* is if in a hierarchy but this is not the
case.  File names may also be 'catalog'ed in a system index.  The information
recorded allows deduction of the disk volume required to find a specific
file name, with the restriction that there is no duplicates allowed.

======
Opinions are the possession of the speaker and to assert otherwise 
is plagiarism.

Jeff Beard, Quintus Computer Systems, Inc.

e-mail ...!amdahl!sun!quintus!jbeard
phone  (415) 965-7700



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