🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <9211182043@fcshome.UUCP>, fredex@fcshome.UUCP (fred smith) writes:
>Jason Adams Vanvalkenburgh (jav2d@faraday.clas.Virginia.EDU) wrote:
>: ernst@opal.cs.tu-berlin.de  writes:
>: > Hi,
>: > 
>: > I know there is a limitation on the number of subdirectories in the
>: > root directory, but is there any limitation in directories other
>: > than "\" ?
>
><stuff deleted)
>
>: 
>: The FAT system only allows a maximum number of file entries.  I'm not
>: sure about numbers, but I remember reading that a 360K floppy couldn`t
>: have any more than 112 file entries.  Therefore 112 0-byte files would
>: actually fill up the disk, because the FAT tables were full.  Larger
>: capacity disks have proportionally more space allocated for the FAT
>: tables, etc.  I had never heard of limitations for the root directory,
>: though.
>: 
>
>The DOS file system has a limit on the number of files (items) IN THE
>ROOT DIRECTORY!!!!!!!!! The number 112 given above is how many things
>can exist in the ROOT directory of a 360k floppy. Once you start
>putting things into subdirectories there is no limit other than 
>the size of the disk.

The root directory has fixed size, so there is a definite limit on the
number of entries (files, subdirectories, volume label,...) in the root of
a given disk. This limit is determined at (DOS) format time.

There is no *definite* limit to the number of entries in subdirectories.
However, as the FAT has fixed size, there *is* a definite limit to the
*total* number of files/subdirectories that can reside on the disk. Each
file/subdirectory requires *at least* one disk block, and therefore occupies
*at least* one entry in the FAT. In 16 bit FATs this limit is less than
2^16 minus <some small number, 1, 2, 3?>, and is also determined at (DOS)
format time.

-- 
** Also sprach harald.ljoeen@nta.no **