Understanding Operating Systems

Fifth Edition
Chapter 8
File Management

The File Manager

File Manager is also called the File management
system and is the software responsible for:
Creating, deleting, modifying, controlling access to
files

Provides support for libraries of programs to online

users, for spooling operation, and for interactive
computing

Understanding Operating Systems, Fifth Edition

Responsibilities of the File Manager

Four tasks
Keep track of where each file is stored
Implement a policy that will:
Determine where and how files are stored
Efficiently use available storage space
Provide efficient file access

Allocate each file when a user has been cleared for

access to it, then record its use
File deallocation
File returned to storage
Communicate file availability to others waiting for it
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Responsibilities of the File Manager

(continued)
File Managers Policy determines:
File storage location
System and user access files via device-independent
commands

Who will have access to which file. This depends on

two factors:
Flexibility of access to information (Factor 1)
Shared files
Providing distributed access
Allowing users to browse public directories
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Responsibilities of the File Manager

(continued)
Subsequent protection (Factor 2)
Protect files against system malfunctions
Security checks
Account numbers, passwords, lockwords

File allocation
Activate secondary storage device, load file into
memory, update records

File deallocation
Update file tables, rewrite file (if revised), notify
waiting processes of file availability
Understanding Operating Systems, Fifth Edition

Definitions
Field
Group of related bytes (e.g. last_name, first_name,
age) that can be identified by the user with a name,
type, and size.

Record
Group of related fields

File
Group of related records that contains information to
be used by specific application programs to generate
reports. This type of file contains data and is
sometimes called a flat file because it has no
connections to other files and has no dimensionality.
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Definitions (continued)
Databases
Groups of related files
Interconnected at various levels
Give users flexibility of access to stored data

Program files
Contain instructions

Data files
Contain data

Directories
Are special files with listings of filenames and their
attributes
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Definitions (continued)

Understanding Operating Systems, Fifth Edition

Interacting with the File Manager

User interacts with the File Manager with commands that are
either:
Embedded in program
OPEN, CLOSE, READ, WRITE, MODIFY
Submitted interactively
CREATE, DELETE, RENAME, COPY

Device independent
Physical location knowledge not needed
Cylinder, surface, sector
Device medium knowledge not needed
Tape, magnetic disk, optical disc, flash storage
Network knowledge not needed
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Interacting with the File Manager

(continued)

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Interacting with the File Manager

(continued)
Each of the logical commands (READ, WRITE etc.) can be
broken into lower-level signals.
Example: READ
Move read/write heads to record cylinder
Wait for rotational delay (sector containing record passes
under read/write head)
Activate appropriate read/write head and read record
Transfer record to main memory
Send flag indicating free device for another request

File Manager does all of this and performs error checking and
correction
No need for error-checking code in programs
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Typical Volume Configuration

Secondary storage unit can be removable (such as
CDs, DVDs etc) or non-removable (such as hard
disks). Each storage unit is considered a volume.
A multifile volume contains many files
Multivolume files
These are extremely large files spread across several
volumes

Each volume is given a name

This is managed by the File manager and it writes this
descriptive information in an easily accessible place
Innermost part of CD, beginning of tape, first sector of
outermost track
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Typical Volume Configuration

(continued)

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Typical Volume Configuration

(continued)
Master file directory (MFD)
Is stored immediately after volume descriptor
MFD lists:
Names and characteristics of every file in volume
File names (program files, data files, system files)

Any subdirectories
If supported by file manager

The remainder of the volume

Is used for file storage

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Typical Volume Configuration

(continued)
Single directory per volume
Supported by early operating systems

Disadvantages

Long search time for individual file

Directory space filled before disk storage space filled
Users cannot create subdirectories
Users cannot safeguard their files
Each program needs unique name
Even those serving many users

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About Subdirectories
Newer File Managers
Create MFD for each volume
Contains file and subdirectory entries
Improvement over single directory scheme
Problems remain: users unable to logically group files by
creating their own subdirectories.

Subdirectory
Is created when a user opens an account in the computer
system
Is treated as a file
Though flagged in MFD as subdirectory
Has unique properties since its records are filenames
pointing to files
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About Subdirectories (continued)

File managers today
Users create own subdirectories (folders)
Related files grouped together

Implemented as upside-down tree

Efficient system searching of individual directories
May require several directories to reach file

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About Subdirectories (continued)

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About Subdirectories (continued)

File descriptor
Filename: ASCII code
File type: organization and usage
System dependent

File size: for convenience

File location
First physical block identification

Date and time of creation

Owner
Protection information: access restrictions
Record size: fixed size, maximum size

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File-Naming Conventions
Filename components
Relative filename and extension

Complete filename (absolute filename)

Includes all path information

Relative filename

Name without path information

Appears in directory listings, folders
Provides filename differentiation within directory
Varies in length
One to many characters
Operating system specific

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File-Naming Conventions (continued)

Extensions
Appended to relative filename
Two to three characters
Separated by period
Identifies file type or contents

Example
BASIA_TUNE.MPG

Unknown extension
Requires user intervention

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File-Naming Conventions (continued)

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File-Naming Conventions (continued)

Operating system specifics
Windows
Drive label and directory name, relative name, and
extension

Network with Open VMS Alpha

Node, volume or storage device, directory, subdirectory,
relative name and extension, file version number

UNIX/Linux
Forward slash (root), first subdirectory, subsubdirectory, files relative name

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File Organization
Arrangement of records within files
All files composed of records
Modify command
Request to access record within a file

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Record Format
Fixed-length records
Easiest to access directly
The record size is critical
Ideal for data files

Variable-length records

Difficult to access directly

No empty storage space and no character truncation
File descriptor stores record format
Used with files accessed sequentially
Text files, program files

Used with files using index to access records

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Record Format (continued)

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UNIX File Management (from Chapter 13)

Three file types
Directories
Ordinary files
Special files

Each enjoys certain privileges

Directories
Are files that maintain the hierarchical structure of file
system
Users allowed to read information in directory files
Only system allowed directory file modification
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UNIX File Management (continued)

Ordinary files
Are those in which users store information
Their protection is based on user requests and are
related to the read, write, execute, delete functions
performed on a file

Special files

Device drivers providing I/O hardware interface

Appear as entries in directories
Part of file system (most in /dev directory)
The name of the special file indicates type of device
association (e.g. /dev/hd, /dev/lp)

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UNIX File Management (continued)

Files stored as sequences of bytes
No structure imposed

Text files
Character strings
Lines delimited by line feed or new line character

Binary files
Sequences of binary digits (bits)
Grouped into words as they appear in memory during
program execution

Structure of files
Controlled by programs using them and not by UNIX
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UNIX File Management (continued)

Organizes disk into blocks of 512 bytes each
Divides disk into four basic regions
First region (address 0): reserved for booting
Second region: contains disk size and other regions boundaries
Third region includes: list of file definitions called the i-list,
which is a list of file descriptors (called i-nodes), one for each
file. The position of an i-node is called an i-number and this
uniquely identifies a file.
Remaining region: free blocks available for file storage

Files stored in contiguous empty blocks

Simple allocation and no need to compact

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UNIX File Management (continued)

i-node
Each entry in i-list called an i-node (or inode)
Contains 13 disk addresses

Contains specific file information

Owners identification
Protection bits, physical address, file size
Time of creation, last use, and last update
Number of links
File type
Directory, ordinary file, or special file

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UNIX File Management (continued)

UNIX File Naming Conventions

Case-sensitive filenames
255 character length
While UNIX does not impose any file naming conventions,
system programs such as compilers expect files to have
suffixes (extensions).
- E.g. prog1.c or prog1.java

Supports hierarchical tree file structure

Root directory identified by slash (/)
The names of other directories are preceded by the slash (/),
which is used as a delimiter
E.g. /programs/pay/checks
where checks is the actual file (see figure 13.8)
The first slash indicates that this is an absolute path name that
starts at the root directory. A relative path name would be
pay/checks.

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UNIX File Naming Conventions (continued)

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UNIX File Naming Conventions (continued)

Path name rules
If a path name starts with a slash, the path starts at
the root directory
Path name can be either:
One name or a list of names separated by slashes
Last name on a list is the name of the file requested

Using two periods (..) in path name

Moves you upward in hierarchy (closer to root). This is
the only way to go up the hierarchy
All other path names go down tree

Spaces not allowed within path names

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UNIX Directory Listings

Table 13.2 shows a long listing of files in a directory with
eight pieces of information for each file
First column
Shows file type and access privileges for each file
First character: nature of file or directory (d indicates a
directory and - indicates an ordinary file)
Next three characters: show the access privileges granted to
the file owner (r indicates read, w indicates write, and x
indicates execute)
Next three characters: show the access privileges granted to
other members of the users group (e.g. students in a class
could be a group)
Last three characters: show the access privileges granted to
users at large (system-wide)
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UNIX Directory Listings (continued)

Second column
Indicates number of links (number of aliases)
Referring to same physical file

Aliases (links)
Important UNIX feature: support file sharing
Several users work together on same project

Shared files appear in different directories belonging

to different users
Filename: may be different from directory to directory
Eventually number will indicate when file no longer
needed: can be deleted
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UNIX Directory Listings (continued)

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UNIX Data Structures

File descriptors divided into parts
Hierarchical directories
Contain filename and i-number
Pointer to another location: i-node

i-node
Contains rest of information

i-nodes stored in reserved part of device

Where directory resides

i-node has 13 pointers (012)

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UNX Data Structures (continued)

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UNIX Data Structures (continued)

When file created
i-node allocated to it
Directory entry with filename and i-node number
created

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UNIX Data Structures (continued)

When file linked
Directory entry created with new name
Original i-node number and link-count field in the inode incremented by one

When shared file deleted

Link-count field in i-node decremented by one
When count reaches zero
Directory entry erased
Deallocate all disk blocks, along with its i-node entry in
the disk i-list
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