Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!cmcl2!nrl-cmf!ames!lll-tis!oodis01!uplherc!sp7040!obie!wes
From: wes@obie.UUCP (Barnacle Wes)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: directory limit
Message-ID: <133@obie.UUCP>
Date: 8 Apr 88 22:37:35 GMT
References: <8804011616.AA00787@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> <1035@atari.UUCP>
Organization: the Well of Souls
Lines: 29
Summary: Use the directory structure correctly.

In article <1035@atari.UUCP>, apratt@atari.UUCP (Allan Pratt) writes:
> From article <8804011616.AA00787@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>, by MCCABE@MTUS5.BITNET:
> > Is there a limit to the number of files per directory?  I know MSDOS
> > has a limit in the root directory but not the other subdirectories.
> > Is GEMDOS the same?
 [...]
> Note that big subdirectories will result in long file search times: all
> files will be searched for from the start of the subdir.  When you
> create a file, you'll search twice: once to be sure the file doesn't
> already exist (and delete it if it does) and a second time to find an
> empty slot.  You just have to deal with that, I'm afraid. 

You have a good point on directory search times here, Allan.  In many
ways, the Unix file system is similar - long directories slow down the
file system.  This is why the 2.11 version of the News software
creates directory trees for the newsgroups.  For instance, if
/usr/spool/news is the news spooling directory, comp.sys.atari.st will
be found in /usr/spool/news/comp/sys/atari/st.

MCCABE:  You will probably speed your program up by creating a
reasonable directory structure and keeping the number of files in each
directory down to 60 or so.  Your application should run faster, and
it _might_ make floppy backups easier (note the emphasis on might,
this would depend on your app and the size of the data files).
-- 
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