CP/M file system
From Just Solve the File Format Problem
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* No directory hierarchy (unlike DOS filesystems) -- all files are in a single flat namespace | * No directory hierarchy (unlike DOS filesystems) -- all files are in a single flat namespace | ||
* However, files are divided into a set of numbered "user areas" (conventionally 0-15) | * However, files are divided into a set of numbered "user areas" (conventionally 0-15) | ||
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| + | Most CP/M file systems are not self-describing: the reader is expected to know the parameters defining the location/size of the directory, etc, which were machine-specific. It will thus be helpful to know which hardware a CP/M file system originated on. | ||
== Tools == | == Tools == | ||
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== References == | == References == | ||
| − | * [ | + | * [https://www.seasip.info/Cpm/formats.html John Elliott's collection of format information] |
| − | * [http://www.gaby.de/cpm/manuals/archive/cpm22htm/ CP/M Manual] | + | * [http://www.gaby.de/cpm/manuals/archive/cpm22htm/ CP/M 2.2 Manual] (for more CP/M versions see [http://www.gaby.de/cpm/manuals/archive/ here]) |
* [https://openpreservation.org/blogs/weirder-old-cpm-file-system-and-legacy-disk-extracts-new-zealands-department/ Weirder than old: The CP/M File System and Legacy Disk Extracts for New Zealand’s Department of Conservation] | * [https://openpreservation.org/blogs/weirder-old-cpm-file-system-and-legacy-disk-extracts-new-zealands-department/ Weirder than old: The CP/M File System and Legacy Disk Extracts for New Zealand’s Department of Conservation] | ||
[[Category:CP/M]] | [[Category:CP/M]] | ||
Latest revision as of 01:11, 20 December 2020
The CP/M operating system had an associated file system format.
A CP/M file system would typically reside on a floppy disk, or more rarely a hard disk. As such, such filesystems are also likely to reside in disk images these days.
Some salient features of the CP/M filesystem (see also Wikipedia):
- 8.3 filenames, like (original) DOS
- No directory hierarchy (unlike DOS filesystems) -- all files are in a single flat namespace
- However, files are divided into a set of numbered "user areas" (conventionally 0-15)
Most CP/M file systems are not self-describing: the reader is expected to know the parameters defining the location/size of the directory, etc, which were machine-specific. It will thus be helpful to know which hardware a CP/M file system originated on.
[edit] Tools
- Michael Haardt's cpmtools (source code for Unix and Win32 executables)
- This has long been packaged for Debian and Ubuntu Linux, so installing it there is as simple as apt-get install cpmtools
