What is a File?
We all know that we regularly store information on computers. Computers store this information on physical storage devices like disks. To use & retrieve this stored information conveniently, the operating system provides a structured mechanism (more technically, ‘logical view’) to store this information. Within this logical framework, the operating system organizes information at various levels of abstraction. ‘File’ is nothing but a logical storage unit of information. A file represents the smallest unit of allocation on logical secondary storage. We cannot store information on our computer unless we store it in files as it is the most basic level of storage.
The part of the operating system dealing with files is called the file system. The file system manages and organizes the files.
File Attributes in OS
Storing data is an essential component of using computers. We all store data in files. Whatever the type of files may be, we use files daily. While using files you also may have come across the ‘file attributes’. They are nothing but the characteristics of the file itself. File Attributes is an essential topic in Operating Systems. In this article, file, and file attributes are discussed.