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<title>HFS Concepts</title>
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<h2>HFS Concepts</h2>
<p>The HFS APIs work with units of information or objects that belong to
existing, hierarchical file systems. A <strong>file system</strong> is the
operating system's method of controlling the format of information on storage
media and performing input and output operations to the objects that contain
the information. The document library services (DLS) file system is one example
of a file system.</p>
<p>The basic units of nonrelational information in a file system are usually
called <strong>files</strong>. Files are sometimes called <strong>byte-stream
files</strong> or <strong>stream files</strong> because they consist of a
stream of bytes with no specific record structure.</p>
<p>A <strong>hierarchical file system</strong> arranges information units in a
multilevel, tree-like structure, as IBM<SUP>(R)</SUP> DOS does. Files are grouped into larger
units usually called directories. A <strong>directory</strong> can contain both
files and subordinate directories. A directory contains no data of its own but
is simply a named group of files and other directories. Two objects with the
same name cannot exist in the same directory, but one directory can contain
directories or files with the same names as those in another directory.</p>
<p><strong><a name="HDRHDIRSC">HFS
Directory--Scenario:</a></strong>&nbsp;&nbsp; The following diagram illustrates
the structure of a hierarchical directory:</p>
<center><img src="RBAFX506.gif" alt="Structure of a hierarchical directory">
</center>
<p>In the preceding diagram, the topmost directory, DIRA, contains both
directories, DIRB and DIRD, and files, FILEW and FILEX. Directory DIRD contains
only files. Directory DIRB contains only directories. In this structure, there
are two directories named DIRD, one in directory DIRA and one in directory
DIRA/DIRB. There are also three files named FILEX, one in directory DIRA, one
in DIRA/DIRD, and one in DIRA/DIRB/DIRC.</p>
<p>The specific location and name of a file or directory are represented in a
multipart name called a path name. A <strong>path name</strong> starts with a
slash (/) and consists of elements separated by slashes. The first element of
the path name is the name of the file system. The remaining elements specify
the applicable directory and file names; the last element can be either a file
or a directory, but the rest must be directories.</p>
<p><strong><a name="HDRHPATHEX">HFS Path
Name--Example:</a></strong>&nbsp;&nbsp; The path name /QDLS/DIRA/FILEW refers
to file FILEW in directory DIRA in file system QDLS.</p>
<p><strong><a name="HDROPATHEX">Optical Path
Name--Example:</a></strong>&nbsp;&nbsp; The path name /QOPT/VOL1/DIR1/FILEA
refers to file FILEA in directory DIR1 on volume VOL1 in file system QOPT.</p>
<p><strong>Note:</strong> The optical file system requires an optical volume
name following the file system name in the path.</p>
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