Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!cbmvax!steveb
From: steveb@cbmvax.UUCP (Steve Beats)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Ban the Cloud! (plus sugg. for Workbench)
Message-ID: <3440@cbmvax.UUCP>
Date: 9 Mar 88 14:24:33 GMT
References: <5328@swan.ulowell.edu>
Reply-To: steveb@cbmvax.UUCP (Steve Beats)
Organization: Commodore Technology, West Chester, PA
Lines: 29

In article <5328@swan.ulowell.edu> page@swan.ulowell.edu (Bob Page) writes:
>
>Why not do it RIGHT and put the list in the directory header, so users
>can't muck with it?  Sure it means a ROM change, but since FFS is
>going into ROM in 1.4 (by all accounts, anyway), why not change the
>directory headers to contain file names before 1.4?
>
I'm not going to get into a religious war here, but just how do you propose
to fit a theoretically infinite number of filenames into one directory header?
If you say "use extension blocks" then I say "file headers ARE extension
blocks".  The Amiga file system (yes even the old one) is exceptionally good
at looking up files by name.  With all the path things you guys are adding,
this is a good thing.  Did you realise that the CLI looks in at least 2 places
for any command typed at the keyboard?  These are real Lock() requests.  If
you start putting lists of filenames onto the disk, you're gonna have to scan
those lists, and boy is it going to slow down.  I'd like to take this
oppurtunity to state that the Amiga filing system, as it stands now, is a
really well thought out item, kudos to Tim King on that one.  However, I
believe it fell down a little on the implementation, BCPL and such, rasberries
to Tim for that :-)  FFS was re-written to address the shortcomings of the
old system and I think it does this quite well.  Now we are compatible, it's
time to look at suggestions like yours Bob, and start integrating the ones
we want into the system before it hits ROM.  I would love to try lotsa new
schemes for directory management and read/write optimisation, but it's all
too easy to fall into the 'second project syndrome' where perfection over-
rides the deadline requirements.  Unfortunately, real world constraints will
preclude this and force us to build on what we have.  

	Steve