Acyclic-Graph Directory Structures: Enhanced File Sharing and Organization

Explore acyclic-graph directory structures, an improvement over traditional tree structures that enables efficient file sharing. This guide explains hard links and symbolic links, their differences, and how they enhance file management and flexibility.

Acyclic-Graph Directory Structures

Addressing File Sharing Limitations in Tree-Structured Systems

Tree-structured directory systems, while organized, limit file sharing because a single file can only reside in one location. To overcome this limitation, acyclic-graph directory structures allow multiple directory entries to point to the same file or subdirectory, effectively enabling file sharing. This is implemented using links (or aliases), allowing a file to be accessed through multiple paths.

Types of Links and File Deletion

Acyclic-graph systems use two types of links:

• Symbolic (Soft) Links: A symbolic link is essentially a pointer to another file or directory. Deleting a symbolic link only removes the link; the actual file remains unaffected unless it is also referenced by a hard link.
• Hard Links: A hard link directly points to the file's data. Deleting a file with hard links only removes the file if all hard links to it are deleted. If some hard links still exist, the file's data persists.

Therefore, deleting a file in an acyclic-graph directory structure behaves differently depending on the type of link:

• Deleting a symbolic link leaves the file intact but results in a broken or dangling link.
• Deleting a file with hard links requires deleting all its hard links to delete the actual file data.