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diff --git a/wdshelp/whatisatree.htm b/wdshelp/whatisatree.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..42298e1 --- /dev/null +++ b/wdshelp/whatisatree.htm @@ -0,0 +1,62 @@ +<html> + <head> + <title>What is a Directory Tree?</title> + <META http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + <meta content="http://schemas.microsoft.com/intellisense/ie5" name="vs_targetSchema"> + <LINK href="format.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet"> + </head> + <BODY> + <h2>What is a Directory Tree?</h2> + <p>On most computer operating systems, so on Microsoft Windows, the data on the + hard disk are organized hierarchically. + </p> + <p>On the one hand there are the <i>files</i> which have a certain size and contain + the effective data. Each file has a name. Under Microsoft Windows the "filename + extension" informs about the type of the file. The extension ".exe", for + instance, indicates that it's a program file. The extension ".doc" indicates a + WinWord document, ".jpg" is a photo, and so on. But ridiculously the Microsoft + Windows Explorer hides these filename extensions by default. You can change + this behaviour in the options menu of the Windows Explorer. + </p> + <p>On the other hand there are <i>directories</i>. The Windows Explorer and + WinDirStat, too, symbolize directories as yellow folders. Directories also + have a name, but normally without a filename extension. Directories only serve + to contain files and other directories ("sub-directories"). Due to the fact + that directories can contain subdirectories, and those again can contain + subdirectories, the result is a hierarchical structure on the disk. + </p> + <p> + <img src="tree.jpg" width="99" height="105" align="left" vspace="20" hspace="20" /> + Instead of "hierarchical structure" we simply say <i>tree structure</i>. Since + a tree is built hierarchical as well: The trunk branches out into branches, the + branches into sub-branches, twigs and finally into the leafs. In a file system + the so called root directory is the trunk, the directories + are the branches and the files are the leafs. + </p> + <p> + That's why we call the file system of a computer simply a "directory tree". + </p> + <p><br clear="all" /> + Unlike most real trees, on a disk the trunk and the branches already have + leafs. And, unlike most real trees, too: the <u>files</u> are the voluminous + entities (the size of which is mesured by megabytes or gigabytes), whereas the + actual directories are neglectibly small. By the way, we imagine abstract trees + as turned round: the root at the top, the leafs at the bottom. + </p> + <p>If you saw a branch off a tree and stick it into the earth, then it becomes + itself a little tree (well, at least it looks like one): Every branch is, + together with its sub-branches and leafs, itself a tree, a <i>subtree</i>. + </p> + <p>The family tree metaphor is often used as well: The subdirectories and files of + a directory are called its <i>children</i>. And a directory containing a + subdirectory or file is called their <i>parent</i>. The root directory is + earliest ancestor of all items in the directory tree. + </p> + <p>A <i>path</i> like "C:\documents\letters\draft\loveletter.doc" indicates that on + the hard disk C:, in the root directory "C:\" there is a directory "documents", + under it the subdirectory "letters", under it a subdirectory "draft" and in + there a file "loveletter.doc". So the path is a precise representation of the + way from the root to the leaf. + </p> + </BODY> +</html> |