X-Files
| X-Files | |
| Icon: |  |
|---|---|
| Maintained by: | {{{maintainer}}} |
| Description: | X-Files allows users of RISC OS 3.71 and below to have as many files and directories (with names longer than ten characters) in a single directory as they wish, which they cannot do with a RISC OS filecore disk prior to the E+ and F+ formats. X-Files is implemented as an Image Filing System, which means all the files and directories are kept within a single RISC OS file which can be opened just as if it was a directory, provided the X-Files module is active. |
| OS Restrictions: | Not 32-bit compatible |
| Languages: | {{{languages}}} |
| Alternatives: | raFS, SparkFS, Win95FS, other image filing systems |
| Website: | http://www.mirror.ac.uk/collections/hensa-micros/local/riscos/filemanager/xfiles.zip |
Historical Notes
Andy Armstrong wrote X-Files in 1996, having apparently seen the 'Directory full' error message (triggered by attempting to save a 78th file into a directory) one time too many.
X-Files is now very tricky to find but version 0.57 (which is believed to be the last version) can be downloaded from http://www.mirror.ac.uk/collections/hensa-micros/local/riscos/filemanager/xfiles.zip or http://ftp.uni-stuttgart.de/pub/systems/acorn/riscos/util/fileutils/xf.zip, including the source code and a data recovery tool in case something goes wrong.
RISC OS has had long filename support since the release of RISC OS 4 in 1999, so this utility is only needed to read ancient data saved on old-format disks (E or F format or earlier) under RISC OS versions 3.71 and earlier.
Note that if RISC OS 3.1 is being run under VirtualAcorn, it is not affected by the infamous 77-file-per-directory limit. VirtualAcorn uses HostFS and thus supports long file names and unlimited files per directory.
Long Filename Systems
By using an image filing system, X-Files has different advantages and disadvantages to programs such as LongFiles or raFS.
LongFiles only addresses the problem of long filenames, not the ADFS 77-file-per-directory limit, and in fact, the hidden file used by LongFiles to store long filename information reduces the number of files available in a directory to 76. However, those files remain accessible even when the LongFiles module is not active; all that is lost is the long filename information.
When X-Files is not running, the contents of an X-File image are a monolithic object, and individual files within an X-File image cannot be manipulated. This is quite similar to the behaviour of files within an archive being managed by ArcFS or SparkFS.
raFS works differently again; files are stored in a custom directory structure using the underlying file system. This structure is hidden from the user while raFS is running, and gives unlimited files per directory with unlimited-length names. While raFS is not running, the long filenames and long sub-directory names are unavailable, but individual files can be retrieved separately from one another.
