In
computing
Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and development of both hardware and software. Computing has scientific, e ...
, a fileset is a
set
Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to:
Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics
*Set (mathematics), a collection of elements
*Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively
Electro ...
of
computer file
A computer file is a computer resource for recording data in a computer storage device, primarily identified by its file name. Just as words can be written to paper, so can data be written to a computer file. Files can be shared with and transfe ...
s linked by defining property or common characteristic.
There are different types of fileset
though the context will usually give the defining characteristic. Sometimes it is necessary to explicitly state the fileset type to avoid ambiguity, an example is the
emacs
Emacs , originally named EMACS (an acronym for "Editor MACroS"), is a family of text editors that are characterized by their extensibility. The manual for the most widely used variant, GNU Emacs, describes it as "the extensible, customizable, s ...
editor which explicitly mentions its ''Version Control'' (VC) fileset type
to distinguish from its "named files" fileset type.
Fileset types
While there is probably no classification of fileset types some common usage cases do emerge:
* A fileset type where the set of files in the fileset are simply enumerated or selected, as an example in the way named filesets are constructed in emacs.
* The set of files included in an software installation package is used in both the
AIX operating system
AIX (Advanced Interactive eXecutive, pronounced , "ay-eye-ex") is a series of Proprietary software, proprietary Unix operating systems developed and sold by IBM for several of its computer platforms.
Background
Originally released for the ...
installation packaging system,
and the
HP-UX
HP-UX (from "Hewlett Packard Unix") is Hewlett Packard Enterprise's proprietary implementation of the Unix operating system, based on Unix System V (initially System III) and first released in 1984. Current versions support HPE Integrity Ser ...
packaging system.
* For fileset types relating to
filesystems
In computing, file system or filesystem (often abbreviated to fs) is a method and data structure that the operating system uses to control how data is stored and retrieved. Without a file system, data placed in a storage medium would be one larg ...
there may be a relationship to directories.
In terms of ''Namespace Database (NSDB) Protocol for Federated File Systems'':
* In coding forms some libraries may define a fileset object type, typically as a case specific name ''Fileset'', or ''FileSet'' which is used to hold an object which references a set of files.
Specific examples
Fileset has several meanings and usages, depending on the context. Some examples are:
In the
AIX operating system
AIX (Advanced Interactive eXecutive, pronounced , "ay-eye-ex") is a series of Proprietary software, proprietary Unix operating systems developed and sold by IBM for several of its computer platforms.
Background
Originally released for the ...
installation packaging system it is the smallest individually installable unit (a collection of files that provides a specific function).
uses the term fileset to define a tree containing directories, files, and
mount points (links to other DFS filesets).
A DFS fileset is also a unit of administrative control. Properties such as data location, storage quota, and replication are controlled at this level of granularity. The concept of a fileset in DFS is essentially identical to the concept of a
volume
Volume is a measure of occupied three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch). The de ...
in
AFS. The glamor filesystem uses the same concept of filesets. Filesets are lightweight components compared to file systems, so management of a file set is easier.
In
IBM GPFS
GPFS (General Parallel File System, brand name IBM Spectrum Scale) is high-performance clustered file system software developed by IBM. It can be deployed in shared-disk or shared-nothing distributed parallel modes, or a combination of these. It ...
represents a set of files within a file system which have an independent inode space.
References
{{wiktionary, fileset
Computing terminology