Directory (computing)

In <a href="/facts/Computing/Kghtm9fX">computing</a>, a directory is a <a href="/facts/File_system/FdPm90uc">file system</a> cataloging structure that contains references to other <a href="/facts/Computer_file/FjFH3Ufm">computer files</a>, and possibly other directories. On many computers, directories are known as folders or drawers, <a href="/facts/Analogy/LYcGaTdm">analogous</a> to a <a href="/facts/Workbench/ryMHLS2r">workbench</a> or the traditional office <a href="/facts/Filing_cabinet/9abXYDwo">filing cabinet</a>. The name derives from books like a <a href="/facts/Telephone_directory/UKxnLfs1">telephone directory</a> that lists the phone numbers of all the people living in a certain area.
Files are organized by storing related files in the same directory. In a <a href="/facts/Hierarchical_file_system/FVv6r1pe">hierarchical file system</a> (that is, one in which files and directories are organized in a manner that resembles a <a href="/facts/Tree_structure/R2vT5UIu">tree</a>), a directory contained inside another directory is called a subdirectory. The terms parent and child are often used to describe the relationship between a subdirectory and the directory in which it is cataloged, the latter being the parent. The top-most directory in such a filesystem, which does not have a parent of its own, is called the root directory.
The <a href="/facts/Freedesktop.org/qGlctGYA">freedesktop.org</a> media type for directories within many <a href="/facts/Unix-like/YAKrAxzd">Unix-like</a> systems – including but not limited to systems using <a href="/facts/GNOME/EFMNBmpR">GNOME</a>, <a href="/facts/KDE_Plasma_5/ao7x6z7s">KDE Plasma 5</a>, or <a href="/facts/ROX_Desktop/BVU1huet">ROX Desktop</a> as the desktop environment – is "inode/directory". This is not an <a href="/facts/Media_type/A31N5Fwj">IANA registered media type</a>.

Directory (computing) open-in-new

Directory (computing)