V6/usr/man/man5/fs.5 Compare this file to the similar file: Show the results in this format: .TH "FILE SYSTEM" V 2/9/75 .SH NAME fs \*- format of file system volume .SH DESCRIPTION Every file system storage volume (e.g. RF disk, RK disk, RP disk, DECtape reel) has a common format for certain vital information. Every such volume is divided into a certain number of 256 word (512 byte) blocks. Block 0 is unused and is available to contain a bootstrap program, pack label, or other information. .s3 Block 1 is the .IB "super block." Starting from its first word, the format of a super-block is .s3 .nf struct { int isize; int fsize; int nfree; int free[100]; int ninode; int inode[100]; char flock; char ilock; char fmod; int time[2]; }; .s3 .fi .IP Isize is the number of blocks devoted to the i-list, which starts just after the super-block, in block 2. .IP Fsize is the first block not potentially available for allocation to a file. These numbers are used by the system to check for bad block numbers; if an ``impossible'' block number is allocated from the free list or is freed, a diagnostic is written on the on-line console. Moreover, the free array is cleared, so as to prevent further allocation from a presumably corrupted free list. .s3 The free list for each volume is maintained as follows. The .IB free array contains, in .IB "free[1], ... , free[nfree\*-1]," up to 99 numbers of free blocks. .IB Free[0] is the block number of the head of a chain of blocks constituting the free list. The first word in each free-chain block is the number (up to 100) of free-block numbers listed in the next 100 words of this chain member. The first of these 100 blocks is the link to the next member of the chain. To allocate a block: decrement .IB nfree, and the new block is .IB free[nfree]. If the new block number is 0, there are no blocks left, so give an error. If .IB nfree became 0, read in the block named by the new block number, replace .IB nfree by its first word, and copy the block numbers in the next 100 words into the .IB free array. To free a block, check if .IB nfree is 100; if so, copy .IB nfree and the .IB free array into it, write it out, and set .IB nfree to 0. In any event set .IB free[nfree] to the freed block's number and increment .IB nfree. .s3 .IB Ninode is the number of free i-numbers in the .IB inode array. To allocate an i-node: if .IB ninode is greater than 0, decrement it and return .IB inode[ninode]. If it was 0, read the i-list and place the numbers of all free inodes (up to 100) into the .IB inode array, then try again. To free an i-node, provided .IB ninode is less than 100, place its number into .IB inode[ninode] and increment .IB ninode. If .IB ninode is already 100, don't bother to enter the freed i-node into any table. This list of i-nodes is only to speed up the allocation process; the information as to whether the inode is really free or not is maintained in the inode itself. .s3 .IB Flock and .IB ilock are flags maintained in the core copy of the file system while it is mounted and their values on disk are immaterial. The value of .IB fmod on disk is likewise immaterial; it is used as a flag to indicate that the super-block has changed and should be copied to the disk during the next periodic update of file system information. .s3 .IB Time is the last time the super-block of the file system was changed, and is a double-precision representation of the number of seconds that have elapsed since 0000 Jan. 1 1970 (GMT). During a reboot, the .IB time of the super-block for the root file system is used to set the system's idea of the time. .s3 I-numbers begin at 1, and the storage for i-nodes begins in block 2. .tr | Also, i-nodes are 32 bytes long, so 16 of them fit into a block. Therefore, i-node .IB i is located in block (\fIi\fR|+|31)|/|16, and begins 32\u\fB.\fR\d((\fIi\fR|+|31)|(mod 16) bytes from its start. I-node 1 is reserved for the root directory of the file system, but no other i-number has a built-in meaning. Each i-node represents one file. The format of an i-node is as follows. .s3 .nf .if t .ta .5i 1.i 2.5i struct { int flags; /* +0: see below */ char nlinks; /* +2: number of links to file */ char uid; /* +3: user ID of owner */ char gid; /* +4: group ID of owner */ char size0; /* +5: high byte of 24-bit size */ int size1; /* +6: low word of 24-bit size */ int addr[8]; /* +8: block numbers or device number */ int actime[2]; /* +24: time of last access */ int modtime[2]; /* +28: time of last modification */ }; .dt .fi .s3 The flags are as follows: .s3 .lp +10 9 100000 i-node is allocated .lp +10 9 060000 2-bit file type: .lp +15 9 000000 plain file .lp +15 9 040000 directory .lp +15 9 020000 character-type special file .lp +15 9 060000 block-type special file. .lp +10 9 010000 large file .lp +10 9 004000 set user-ID on execution .lp +10 9 002000 set group-ID on execution .lp +10 9 000400 read (owner) .lp +10 9 000200 write (owner) .lp +10 9 000100 execute (owner) .lp +10 9 000070 read, write, execute (group) .lp +10 9 000007 read, write, execute (others) .s3 .i0 Special files are recognized by their flags and not by i-number. A block-type special file is basically one which can potentially be mounted as a file system; a character-type special file cannot, though it is not necessarily character-oriented. For special files the high byte of the first address word specifies the type of device; the low byte specifies one of several devices of that type. The device type numbers of block and character special files overlap. .s3 The address words of ordinary files and directories contain the numbers of the blocks in the file (if it is small) or the numbers of indirect blocks (if the file is large). Byte number .IB n of a file is accessed as follows. .IB N is divided by 512 to find its logical block number (say .IB b ) in the file. If the file is small (flag 010000 is 0), then .IB b must be less than 8, and the physical block number is .IB addr[b]. .s3 If the file is large, .IB b is divided by 256 to yield .IB i. If .IB i is less than 7, then .IB addr[i] is the physical block number of the indirect block. The remainder from the division yields the word in the indirect block which contains the number of the block for the sought-for byte. .s3 If .IB i is equal to 7, then the file has become extra-large (huge), and .IB addr[7] is the address of a first indirect block. Each word in this block is the number of a second-level indirect block; each word in the second-level indirect blocks points to a data block. Notice that extra-large files are not marked by any mode bit, but only by having .IB addr[7] non-zero; and that although this scheme allows for more than 256\*X256\*X512 = 33,554,432 bytes per file, the length of files is stored in 24 bits so in practice a file can be at most 16,777,216 bytes long. .s3 For block .IB b in a file to exist, it is not necessary that all blocks less than .IB b exist. A zero block number either in the address words of the i-node or in an indirect block indicates that the corresponding block has never been allocated. Such a missing block reads as if it contained all zero words. .SH "SEE ALSO" icheck, dcheck (VIII)