Talk:Record-oriented filesystem

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I'm confused about this article, is it a FILESYSTEM (like FAT, ext2, ReiserFS) or a FILE-FORMAT (magic numbers, file extension) system? Improfane

A: It's not about a specific file system, but rather the whole class of filesystems that support record-oriented operation. The key point is that the system calls used to access files are designed to access records, rather than chunks of data read or written in application-specific formats. Most mainframe operating systems support a rich variety of record-oriented record formats. Most commonly, records are fixed in length within any given file, or a file may have variable-length records. Unlike the stream-oriented systems found on systems like Unix, PC-DOS, Windows, and Mac, the data in the file is accessed strictly in terms of records. Variable-length records are preceded by a (usually) binary byte-count, and may contain any coded bytes at all, both binary and characters. There is no concept of an "end of line" delimiter, such as a carriage-return character.

Some people, particularly Unix advocates, dismiss record-oriented file systems as being based on punched-card technology, and therefore presumably "old-fashioned." The Unix-like stream-oriented approach is modelled after another 19th century technology, that of the paper-tapes used by the printing telegraph, used to mechanize the transmission of telegrams. These started being used for computers in the form of Teletype machines used as inexpensive input devices by the mini-computers of the '60s and '70s.

For its part, the Hollerith punched card was at least originally conceived for computational purposes.

This article, it seems to me, was written by a Unix advocate who wished to diminish the advantages of record-oriented file access methods. It is clearly not NPOV. I plan to fix it, when I find time to address the matter properly.

--RussHolsclaw 04:23, 12 February 2006 (UTC)