FRM, and MEM,” LOTUS adds “WK1, PRN, and
PIC.”
It is important to devise a naming scheme that is
comfortable for you. Your command may have already
addressed this area and come up with descriptive
naming conventions.
If so, of course, you will use
those. Whatever method you use, be sure that it is
indeed a method and NOT just haphazard naming of
files. When working alongside the end users, be sure to
pass along what you have learned. When they go to the
filing cabinet, be sure they know exactly which file
drawer to open and which file folder to retrieve from
that drawer. Most people are familiar with organizing
file folders in the drawers of a filing cabinet. You might
want to use this analogy as a starting point, explaining to
the users how they can organize their disk files in much
the same manner. Explain how they can organize their
work (files) into groups of files called directories.
Directories
File directories, like the folders that are filed away
in drawers by category, or like the yellow pages of the
phone book, provide you a way to organize and find
files by category and name.
Most operating systems give you the option of
creating either single or multiple-file directories,
regardless of whether your system uses floppy or hard
disk. Disks with only one directory are said to be of the
unstructured or flat type. Disks having more than one
directory are said to be hierarchical or tree structured
because they contain a root directory and several
subdirectories, each subdirectory containing files with
common subject matter. We use the term tree structure
because this type of directory takes on the appearance of
an upside down tree with the trunk of the tree or root
directory located at the top and all the branches or
subdirectories located below.
Let’s assume you have a floppy disk that contains 50
files with only a main or root directory, as shown in
figure 2-16. Upon displaying the directory (using the
DIRectory command), you notice the files are listed in
random sequence, usually in the order of their creation
or when last updated.
We call this an unstructured
directory. Looking more closely, you realize a number
of things. First, that better organization is needed.
Second, that most of the files listed can be grouped
together by categories:
supply, 3-M, personnel,
disbursing, food services, and division management.
Finally, you see that there are really two types of
Figure 2-16.—Unstructured disk file directory.
categories:
files that deal with user applications and
those that deal strictly with division matters.
Using the tree-structured approach, you can divide
your disk into smaller units by subdirectories, as shown
in figure 2-17. In this example, E5 Christmas, as the
primary user of these files, decided to organize her files
by setting up a separate directory called
E5CHRISTMAS. Within the E5CHRISTMAS
directory, she set up several subdirectories. They are
identified by <DIR> following the name and they have
no extensions. Notice also that some files, those that
relate to division matters, are included in the
subdirectory along with the subdirectories that relate to
user files. Because E5 Christmas uses the division files
frequently, she wanted to be able to access them directly
from her directory.
Subdirectories, like other files, appear as entries in
the directory; however, you can’t see a listing (or a
display) of all the files in all the subdirectories at one
Figure 2-17.—Tree-structured disk file directory.
2-27
