What is ment by file attributes? Discuss any one technique of implementing directories in detail.

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Bipin Tiwari · Accepted Answer

File attributes are settings associated with computer files that grant or deny certain rights to how a user or the operating system can access that file. For example, IBM-compatible computers running MS-DOS or Microsoft Windows have the capabilities of having read, archive, system, and hidden attributes. Directory implementation in the operating system can be done using the Singly Linked List and Hash table. The efficiency, reliability, and performance of a file system are greatly affected by the selection of directory allocation and directory-management algorithms. There are numerous ways in which the directories can be implemented. But we need to choose an appropriate directory implementation algorithm that enhances the performance of the system. Directory Implementation using Singly Linked List The implementation of directories using a singly linked list is easy to program but is time-consuming to execute. Here we implement a directory by using a linear list of filenames with pointers to the data blocks. Directory Implementation Using Singly Linked List To create a new file the entire list has to be checked such that the new directory does not exist previously. The new directory then can be added to the end of the list or at the beginning of the list. In order to delete a file, we first search the directory with the name of the file to be deleted. After searching we can delete that file by releasing the space allocated to it. To reuse the directory entry we can mark that entry as unused or we can append it to the list of free directories. Deleting a file-linked list is the best choice as it takes less time. Disadvantage The main disadvantage of using a linked list is that when the user needs to find a file the user has to do a linear search. In today’s world directory information is used quite frequently and linked list implementation results in slow access to a file. So the operating system maintains a cache to store the most recently used directory information.

What is ment by file attributes? Discuss any one technique of implementing directories in detail.

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What is ment by file attributes? Discuss any one technique of implementing directories in detail.

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