Classification of File Organization Techniques
David Lefkovitz · 1969
I n Chapter I an overview of the information system was presented, and in Chapter III the functional requirements it imposes upon the file structure were discussed. Then three definitions were introduced: information structure, file structure ( organization ), and data structure. The first was said to be outside the purview of the automated system designer, since it was a relatively fixed property of the data files presented to him. The second and third are of direct interest to the designer, but the third is relatively trivial as compared with the second because it primarily concerns record formats and list structuring controls. The second, file structure, is of primary interest to the designer because it is here that he makes decisions regarding the file partitioning techniques, the type of directory construction, file and directory maintenance techniques, and executive system and query processor interactions. Chapters VI, VII, and VIII are devoted exclusively to these subjects, and in order to assemble the various concepts and techniques into a coherent body of useable design information, a simple classification is to be made in this chapter of the techniques for file structuring. This systematization is also helpful when comparing techniques and designating trade-offs. The first step is to isolate the file structuring problem from file manipulation programs, and both of these from executive and query processing functions.