This article is about a type of file system organization. For the Apple file system, see Hierarchical File System (Apple). For the IBM file system, see Hierarchical File System (IBM MVS).
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Example of a directory structure in a hierarchical file system
In computing, a hierarchical file system is a file system that uses directories to organize files into a tree structure.[1]
In a hierarchical file system, directories contain information about both files and other directories, called subdirectories which, in turn, can point to other subdirectories, and so on.[2] This is organized as a tree structure, or hierarchy, generally portrayed with the root at the top. The root directory is the base of the hierarchy, and is usually stored at some fixed location on disk.
A hierarchical file system contrasts with a flat file system, where information about all files is stored in a single directory, and there are no subdirectories.
Almost all file systems today are hierarchical. What is referred to as a file system is a specific instance of a hierarchical system. For example, NTFS, HPFS, and ext4, all implement a hierarchical system with different features for buffering, file allocation, and file recovery.
^Sharma, Vivek; Varshney, Manish; Sharma, Shantanu (2010). Design and Implementation of Operating System. University Science Press. p. 346. ISBN 9789380386416. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
^Stephens, Mark (June 6, 1988). "Netware, LAN Manager Spar in Network Software Contest". InfoWorld. Vol. 10, no. 23. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
and 24 Related for: Hierarchical file system information
subdirectories. Almost all filesystems today are hierarchical. What is referred to as a filesystem is a specific instance of a hierarchicalsystem. For example,...
operating system. The native filesystems of Unix-like systems also support arbitrary directory hierarchies, as do, Apple's HierarchicalFileSystem and its...
Extended) is a journaling filesystem developed by Apple Inc. It replaced the HierarchicalFileSystem (HFS) as the primary filesystem of Apple computers with...
with current filesystems. It allows the data to be addressed by their content (associative access). Traditional hierarchicalfile-systems tend to impose...
compared to the Macintosh's 400 KB floppy drive. Apple introduced HierarchicalFileSystem as a replacement for MFS in September 1985. In Mac OS 7.6.1, Apple...
SunOS filesystem(7) and its successor, the Solaris filesystem(7). Hierarchicalfilesystem Unix directory structure XDG Base Directory Specification Historically...
namespaces to support virtualization containers. Similarly, hierarchicalfilesystems organize files in directories. Each directory is a separate namespace...
Macintosh FileSystem (MFS), a flat filesystem with only one level of folders. This was quickly replaced in 1985 by the HierarchicalFileSystem (HFS),...
Technology FileSystem (NTFS) is a proprietary journaling filesystem developed by Microsoft. Starting with Windows NT 3.1, it is the default filesystem of the...
computing, the working directory of a process is a directory of a hierarchicalfilesystem, if any, dynamically associated with the process. It is sometimes...
changed from OpenEdition to OS/390 UNIX System Services "z/OS base elements". ibm.com. "HierarchicalFileSystem" (PDF). ti-leipzig.de. Archived from the...
System or MFS, 1984–1985, full support discontinued with System 7.6.1 The HierarchicalFileSystem or HFS, 1985 until the release of Mac OS X, was still...
Domain Name System (DNS) zone file is a text file that describes a DNS zone. A DNS zone is a subset, often a single domain, of the hierarchical domain name...
configuration. Unix systems are characterized by various concepts: the use of plain text for storing data; a hierarchicalfilesystem; treating devices...
files or archive files. The Mac OS' HierarchicalFileSystem stores codes for creator and type as part of the directory entry for each file. These codes are...
Computer. It was launched on May 13, 1991, to succeed System 6 with virtual memory, personal file sharing, QuickTime, TrueType fonts, the Force Quit dialog...
Google FileSystem (GFS or GoogleFS, not to be confused with the GFS Linux filesystem) is a proprietary distributed filesystem developed by Google to...
needed] Similar to the one found on Lisa OS, the System 1 Finder had five menus: the Apple menu, File, Edit, View, and Special. When in an application...
letter lambda, λ). MS-DOS 2.0, released 1983, copied the idea of a hierarchicalfilesystem from Unix and thus used the (forward) slash as the directory separator...
A journaling filesystem is a filesystem that keeps track of changes not yet committed to the filesystem's main part by recording the goal of such changes...
file system – a hierarchical interface to non-file objects that appear as if they were regular files in the tree of a disk-based filesystem ^ Emulation on...
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