In computing, the directory is a file system catalog structure that contains references to other computer files, and possibly other directories. On many computers, directories are known as folders , or drawers to give some relevance to the traditional work desk or office file cabinet.
Files are organized by saving related files in the same directory. In a hierarchical file system (that is, where files and directories are organized in a tree-like way), a directory contained in another directory is called subdirectory . The terms parent and child are often used to describe the relationship between the subdirectory and the directory where the catalog belongs, the latter being the parent. The topmost directory in such a file system, which does not have its own parent, is called the root directory.
Video Directory (computing)
Overview
Historically, and even on some modern embedded systems, the file system has no support for directories at all or just has a "flat" directory structure, which means unsupported subdirectories; there are only a bunch of top-level directories that each contain a file. In modern systems, directories can contain mixed files and subdirectories.
Reference to the location in the directory system is called the path.
In many operating systems, the program has the corresponding working directory in which they execute. Typically, the file names accessed by the program are assumed to be in this directory if the file name is not specified with an explicit directory name.
Some operating systems restrict user access only to their home directory or project directory, thus isolating their activity from all other users. In early versions of Unix, the root directory is the home directory of the root user, but modern Unix usually uses other directories like/root for this purpose.
In accordance with the Unix philosophy, Unix systems treat the directory as a file type.
Metaphor folder
The name folder , presents an analogy to the file folder used in the office, and is used in the hierarchical file system design for the Mark 1 Electronic Recording, Accounting (ERMA) Machine published in 1958 as well as by Xerox Star, used in almost all desktop environments are modern operating systems. Folders are often depicted with icons that visually resemble physical file folders.
There is a difference between the directory, which is the concept of the file system, and the graphical user interface metaphor used to represent it (folder ). For example, Microsoft Windows uses a custom folder concept to help present computer content to users in a fairly consistent way that frees users from having to deal with absolute directory paths, which can vary between Windows versions, and between individual installations. Many operating systems also have the concept of "smart folders" or virtual folders that reflect the search results of file systems or other operations. These folders do not represent directories in the file hierarchy. Many email clients allow creating folders to organize emails. These folders do not have the appropriate representation in the filesystem structure.
In computing, directories and folders are the same thing.
If someone refers to the document container , the term folder is more appropriate. The term directory refers to how a structured list of files and document folders is stored on a computer. The difference could be due to the way directories are accessed; on Unix systems,/usr/bin/commonly referred to as the directory when viewed in the command line console, but if accessed through the graphics file manager, the user can sometimes call it a folder.
Maps Directory (computing)
Password search
Operating systems that support hierarchical file systems (almost all modern ones) apply cache to RAM from recent search paths. In the Unix world, this is usually called Directory Name Lookup Cache (DNLC), even though it's called dcache on Linux.
For local file systems, DNLC entries usually expire only under pressure from other newer entries. For a network file system a coherence mechanism is required to ensure that the entry has not been canceled by another client.
See also
References
External links
- Directory definition by Linux Information Project (LINFO)
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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