JP2000200207A - Hierarchical management file device and electronic equipment equipped with the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a hierarchical management file device which can efficiently record and reproduce files of a large size requiring continuous high-speed recording and reproduction and discrete files of a small size together and the electronic equipment equipped with it. SOLUTION: The recording area of an information recording medium is divided into clusters of areas 602 to 610, each cluster is subdivided into fragments shown by areas 611 to 618, and files are hierarchically recorded on and reproduced from the information recording medium by referring to a cluster FAT showing the association position relation among the respective clusters and the use states of the fragments, a fragment FAT showing connection information on the respective fragments, and a directory entry table totally managing the cluster FAT and fragment FAT.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hierarchical management file device and an electronic apparatus having the same, and more particularly, to a recording area of an information recording medium divided hierarchically by a plurality of types of recording unit lengths. The divided area is composed of a plurality of divided areas of a lower hierarchy, and the file is recorded on the information recording medium by hierarchical management according to management information in units of the divided area of each layer, divided into file recording areas, and recorded. The present invention relates to a hierarchical management file device that reproduces a file by hierarchically managing divided areas of each layer based on management information from a recording medium and an electronic apparatus including the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an information processing apparatus having a secondary recording device such as a hard disk or an optical disk, a mechanism called a file device for managing a recording area of the recording device so as to be able to read and write as a file is realized. A variety of file devices have been devised and put into practical use even for large computers and the like for a long time. This is realized by using a file allocation management table called (File Allocation Table). FA
T is adopted not only as a computer device but also as a file device of a consumer industrial device, and has a simple structure, so that it is incorporated in an operating system of a personal computer or a consumer industrial device.

FIG. 33 shows a magnetic disk used in a personal computer. The boot sector is an area in which a load program for starting the operating system, a root directory number described later, the FAT number described above, and the like are recorded. Further, the area of the root directory is an area in which a file name, a file size, and the like of a recorded file are recorded. FAT is a file allocation management table as described above, and a desired file is a root directory and FAT.
Read from or write to the recording area.

Referring to FIGS. 34, 35 and 36, F
An outline of a file device based on the AT will be described. As shown in FIG. 34, a recording area (hereinafter, referred to as a volume) of an information recording medium is divided by a main recording unit length (hereinafter, referred to as a cluster), and each cluster is assigned a cluster number. And recording and reproduction are performed.

Here, in the following description, a description method will be clarified so as not to confuse a cluster number, which will be described later, with a reference numeral for simply describing the drawings. That is, for example, when described as the area 300, the area means an area where one cluster is recorded, a recording area where a plurality of clusters are recorded, or a part of a recording area of a cluster, and These recording areas are shown in the drawing, and the numeral 300 simply means a code indicating the above-mentioned recording area in the drawing. Also, FAT entry 30
When it is described as 0, it means that the area 300 constitutes one of the entries which are the constituent units of the FAT.

[0006] Clusters typically range in size from 512 bytes to 32 kilobytes. Here, it is 512 bytes. For example, the cluster number of the cluster in the area 102 is 2 and the cluster number in the area 103 is 3. In addition, area 10
In the system area 1, the entire recording area information is recorded, and the total number of clusters and the size of the cluster can be known.

In a file device, a plurality of files are collectively managed in a management area called a directory.
Information of each file belonging to the directory, for example, information such as a file name, a creation date, and a file size is recorded.

FIG. 35 shows the structure of a directory. These directories are recorded in cluster units, like files. Directories are hierarchical by referring to subdirectories from the root directory,
By traversing the directory hierarchically, the directory entry of the target file is reached.

[0009] FILE2. DAT
Is a file name, the file size of this file is 2013 bytes as indicated by the file size of the area 206, and the area 205 records the number 4 of the first cluster of the clusters constituting the file.
By following the FAT chain one after another from this cluster number, reading and writing can be performed for all clusters constituting the file.

FIG. 36 shows the structure of the FAT. Each entry of the FAT corresponds to each cluster of the recording area shown in FIG. 34, and is arranged in the order of the cluster numbers shown in (2) to (12) of FIG. In the entry of each FAT, the number of the next cluster constituting the file is recorded. For example, FILE2. FAT of the first cluster 4 of DAT (meaning the cluster whose cluster number is (4), and so on)
The value of the entry 305 is 7, which indicates that the next cluster is (7). Next, the value of the FAT entry 308 of cluster 7 is 11, and the FAT entry of cluster (11) is
The value of the AT entry 312 is 9, and the value of the FAT entry 310 of the cluster (9) is 65535. 65535 has a special meaning and indicates that it is the last cluster.

With the chain of these FAT entries,
FILE2. It can be seen that the DAT is composed of four clusters, cluster 4 in the disk recording area 104, cluster 7 in the area 107, cluster 11 in the area 111, and cluster 9 in the area 109 shown in FIG. On the other hand, since the file size is 2013 according to the area 206,
In this case, one cluster is 512 bytes, and the last cluster uses only 477 bytes (2013-512 × 3 = 477). The area 30
6, the value of the FAT entry of the area 311 and the area 313 is 0
This value indicates that the cluster is unused, and the corresponding areas 105, 110, and 11
The second cluster 5, cluster 10, and cluster 12 are used as recording areas for a new file when the file size increases.

[0012]

As described above, the management based on the FAT has a simple structure, but has the following three problems. (1) Even if clusters are used continuously, F
Since the AT entries must be referred to individually, if the number of clusters is large, the number of times the FAT entries are referred to increases, and the efficiency is low, such as when a file is accessed randomly.

(2) In order to perform file access at high speed, it is better to arrange the file data in continuous clusters as much as possible. However, since the free clusters correspond to the individual FAT entries, it is necessary to search for continuous free clusters. To refer to each free cluster, the number of times of referring to the FAT entry increases, and to arrange in a continuous cluster so that extents (units of a continuous cluster) constituting a file are not divided (fragmented) as much as possible. ineffective.

(3) The size of the FAT itself increases with the increase in the capacity of the recording apparatus, and the processing speed and the memory capacity of the CPU for referring to the FAT entry are required to be large, so that fragmentation does not occur. Hardware usage efficiency is poor when trying to place files.

(4) With the advancement of technology, the data handled by computer equipment has also become diversified. From files of several kilobytes, such as texts of word processors, to tens of megabytes, several megabytes, including audio and video data, and more. It is necessary to record even a giga-sized file on the same information recording medium. The existence of files of various sizes makes fragmentation more likely to occur, and the storage area can be used effectively by reducing the size of the cluster, but if the files are divided and arranged, the data transfer speed will increase. AV
Influences such as the inability to play and record data in real time.

FIG. 37 shows an example of a decrease in data transfer due to fragmentation. Area 401, area 403, 4
Since clusters 05 and 407 are divided and arranged, in addition to data reading, areas 402, 404, and 40
A seek time, indicated at 6, is required, which causes a drop in data transfer.

Conventionally, an extended FAT capable of managing a large number of clusters by setting the FAT entry to 32 bits has been implemented to cope with an increase in the capacity of the recording apparatus, but the above (1), (2), The problems of (3) and (4) are not sufficient, and a technique has been devised to use the recording area of the information recording medium effectively by reducing the size of the cluster. Large files such as AV files are more prone to fragmentation. Therefore, regarding fragmentation, software called so-called defragmentation
The problem is dealt with by rearranging and re-recording the cluster data after recording the file.

The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and employs a simple FAT management method, a cluster FAT of a large allocation unit, and a fragment FA of a small allocation unit obtained by further dividing the cluster.
By managing recording areas hierarchically with T, the problems (1), (2), (3), and (4) can be solved, fragmentation can be efficiently prevented, and files of various sizes can be stored. It is an object of the present invention to provide a hierarchical management file device capable of efficiently recording and guaranteeing real-time properties of AV data and the like, and an electronic device including the same.

[0019]

[Means for solving the problem] In order to achieve the object,
In the hierarchical management file device of the present invention and the electronic device having the same, the recording area of the information recording medium is divided hierarchically by a plurality of recording unit lengths, and the divided area of each layer is divided into a plurality of divided areas of the lower layer. The file is recorded in the information recording medium in units of divided areas of each layer by the first management information and the second management information, and is divided and recorded in the file recording area. 1st management information and 2nd
A hierarchical management file apparatus for hierarchically managing and reproducing files from an information recording medium according to the management information of the first layer, the first file having connection information and use information of divided areas of each layer for each layer
And the second management information having, for each file, the attribute of the file, the type of the layer used for recording and reproduction of the file, the type of the file, and the position of the divided area of the first layer where recording and reproduction start. Referring to the information recording medium to be recorded / reproduced and the first management information and the second management information of each layer, when recording a file in the divided area of each layer,
Referring to the first management information of the lower hierarchy, the divided area of the lower hierarchy is assigned. If there is no vacant divided area, the first management information of the upper hierarchy is referred to, and the upper hierarchy is again determined. Search for the first management information of the lower hierarchy belonging to the file, assigning the file to the divided area, and controlling the recording and reproduction of the file on the information recording medium by selectively using the type of the hierarchy according to the characteristics of the file. Software control means for performing the operation.

Preferred embodiments of the hierarchy management file device of the present invention are the following (1) to (13). (1) The software control means includes: first management information;
The second management information and the file storage area are recorded / reproduced in divided areas assigned ascending numbers for each hierarchy, and the divided areas can be identified by the ascending numbers.

(2) The software control means records and reproduces the second management information in divided areas of the same hierarchy,
The management information of at least the first information indicating the attribute of the file
, The second information indicating the type of layer and the type of file used for recording and reproduction of a file, and the third information indicating the position of the divided area of the first layer where recording and reproduction are started, When a file is identified as not a hierarchical file by the second information, the file can be recorded and reproduced with reference to the third information and the first management information of the identified hierarchy.

(3) The software control means records and reproduces the second management information in the divided area of the same hierarchy,
The management information of at least the first information indicating the attribute of the file
, The second information indicating the type of layer and the type of file used for recording and reproduction of a file, and the third information indicating the position of the divided area of the first layer where recording and reproduction are started, When the file is identified by the second information as a hierarchical file composed of a parent file and a child file, the file of the child file that matches the third information indicating the first position of the divided area of the hierarchy of the parent file 2 to identify the child file, and by using the third information of the child file,
The position of the divided area of the first layer at which the recording / reproduction of the child file is started is identified, and by referring to the identified first management information of the layer of the child file, the divided area of the lower layer used by the child file must be the parent. The file can be recorded and reproduced so as to be included in the divided area of the upper hierarchy used by the file.

(4) The software control means may be arranged so that the first management information is the fourth information indicating the connection information and the use information of the divided area of the hierarchy and the fifth information indicating the use status of the divided area of the lower hierarchy. In the fourth information, a divided area in which a file is to be recorded / reproduced next to an arbitrary divided area of the hierarchy can be identified, and the divided areas allocated to the file can be continuously recorded / reproduced. It is possible to control whether or not the lower layer divided area is allocated to the recording area of the file by the information of No. 5.

(5) The first management information belonging to the lower hierarchy includes connection information and use information between divided areas of the lower hierarchy,
It has information of connection information and use information between divided areas of an upper layer to which the lower layer belongs.

(6) The first management information has information indicating the end of the file for each layer.

(7) In the initialization of the information recording medium, the software control means allocates only the uppermost layer divided area divided by the maximum recording unit length.

(8) The software control means can assign a plurality of continuous information units of the file to the divided area of the lower hierarchy.

(9) When a new divided area is reserved for a file and when a file is recorded in the new divided area, the software control means
A fourth indicating connection information and usage information of the divided area of the hierarchy
And the fifth information indicating the use status of the divided areas in the lower hierarchy are updated for each hierarchy.

(10) When a new divided area is reserved for a file and when a file is recorded in the new divided area, the software control means sets the first information indicating the attribute of the file and the second management In the information, the second information indicating the type of layer and the type of file used for recording and reproduction of a file, and the third information indicating the position of a divided area of the first layer where recording and reproduction are started are updated. It is.

(11) When updating the first management information and the second management information by allocating a new divided area in the file recording, the software control means may store the first management information and the second management information. And referring to the first management information of the divided area of the highest hierarchy to which the divided area of the latest hierarchy to which the file is recorded is based on the position of the divided area of the latest hierarchy, and Searches the divided area of the hierarchy over the entire information recording medium, successively lowers the hierarchy, performs the same search as the search of the unused highest-level divided area, and determines the divided area closest to the position of the latest divided area. The information which is newly assigned to the file is recorded in the file.

(12) When updating the first management information and the second management information by allocating a new divided area in the recording of the hierarchical file, the software control means may store the first management information and the second management information. With reference to the information, the first management information to which the parent file belongs is referred to in the highest hierarchical division area to which the latest hierarchical division area belongs based on the position of the latest hierarchical division area where the file is recorded. Then, an unused top-level divided area belonging to the parent file is searched over the entire information recording medium, and the hierarchy is successively reduced, and a search similar to the search for an unused top-level divided area belonging to the parent file is performed. Then, the information of the child file newly assigned to the hierarchical file is recorded in the divided area closest to the position of the divided area of the latest hierarchy.

(13) The first management information has the use information of the divided area of each layer and the use state of the divided area of the lower layer for each layer, and connects the connection information of the divided area of each layer to the second management information. , And the first management information and the second management information are included in one of the third management information provided in a separate recording area.

Regarding the above-mentioned operation, the following (1) to (3)
Write up to. (1) The recording area of the information recording medium is hierarchically divided by a plurality of recording unit lengths, and the divided area of each layer is constituted by a plurality of divided areas of lower layers, and the first management information and the second management information Since the file can be recorded and reproduced by the software control means with reference to the information, for example, by assigning a divided area divided by a large recording unit length to a file that needs to be continuously reproduced, such as video and audio, The number of divided areas can be reduced, and the number of times of reference to the first management information can be reduced. Also, for a file such as a sentence having a small amount of information and which can be reproduced discretely, a divided area divided by a small recording unit length can be allocated, and the recording area of the information recording medium can be effectively used. .

(2) In order to access a file at high speed, it is better to arrange individual information of the file in a continuous area as continuous as possible. The recording area of the information recording medium is divided hierarchically by a plurality of recording unit lengths, and the divided area of each layer is composed of a plurality of divided areas of the lower layer, and the divided area of the upper layer uses the divided area of the lower layer. By having information indicating the status, when allocating a file to a divided area, an unused divided area can be searched hierarchically, and the occurrence of fragmentation can be suppressed, and the file can be quickly moved to a united divided area. Can be recorded with
In addition, the recorded file can be reproduced at a high speed.

(3) Divided areas divided by a large recording unit length are allocated to files that need to be continuously reproduced, such as video and audio, and the amount of information such as text is small.
By allocating divided areas divided by a small recording unit length to a file that can be reproduced discretely, the amount of information of the first management information can be significantly reduced, and also described in (1) and (2). In addition, it is possible to reduce the load on the hardware device used for the electronic device including the hierarchical management file device of the present invention.

[0036]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the following, as an example of a hierarchical management file device of the present invention and an electronic device equipped with the same, the above-mentioned cluster is a divided region of an upper layer, and a fragment described later is a divided region of a lower layer. The cluster FAT is used as the first management information of the upper layer, and the first management information of the lower layer is used.
A description will be given of a two-level hierarchical management file device using a fragment FAT as the second management information and a directory entry table composed of clusters as the second management information, and an electronic apparatus including the same. The present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to a general multi-level hierarchical management file device and an electronic apparatus including the same.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an embodiment of a hierarchical management file apparatus and an electronic apparatus equipped with the same according to the present invention. The CPU 501 controls the system according to a program recorded in the memory 502. As the memory 502, a high-speed semiconductor memory may be used. ROM (Read Only Memory)
) May be recorded in the secondary recording device 50.
3. The program may be transferred to the memory 502 from the tuner 509 or the like via the network driver 504 and executed. The secondary recording device 503 is a hard disk, an exchangeable optical disk, or a flash ROM.
For example, a nonvolatile memory such as a non-volatile memory is used. Secondary recording device 50
3 are stored in the memory 50.
2 is managed by the hierarchy management file device 510 of the present invention in accordance with the program stored in the storage device 2. The software control means according to the first aspect includes a CPU 501 and a memory 502. The hierarchical management file device 510 of the present invention
It comprises a secondary recording device 503, software control means and an information recording medium.

The network driver 504 has a reference numeral 505.
Supports a network such as IEEE 1394 or Ethernet, and transfers data of a file recorded in the secondary recording device 503 or the secondary recording device 503.
Is used to transfer the file data read from the.
Further, these data can be transferred to a network after data processing such as compression and decompression is once performed by special hardware connected to the CPU 501 or the bus 506 according to a program in the memory 502.

The infrared transmitting / receiving device 507 can receive a command by a remote control operation from a user and control the operation of a program recorded in the memory 502 to perform an interactive operation. The image / audio input / output device 508 is connected to a display device such as a television or a monitor, and
02 according to the program stored in the second storage device 50 or the graphical user interface (not shown).
3. The image transferred from the network driver 504,
Output audio.

The video / audio input / output device 508 is connected to devices such as a video camera and a video deck, and can capture audio and video from the video deck and record the video on the video deck. The tuner 509 is connected to an antenna for satellite broadcasting or an antenna for terrestrial television broadcasting, and the received data is sent to the image / audio input / output device 508 and reproduced.

These data are stored in the secondary recording device 503.
After that, it is possible to play it back. The input / output signals handled by the video / audio input / output device 508 and the tuner 509 may be analog or digital. In the case of analog, the video / audio input / output device 508 and the tuner 509 convert the digital data into digital data. And so on, and are processed in the hierarchical management file device of the present invention in FIG. 1 and an electronic device having the same (hereinafter, referred to as a system configuration).

CPU 501, memory 502, secondary recording device 503, network driver 504, infrared transmitting / receiving device 507, video / audio input / output device 508, tuner 50
Reference numeral 9 is connected to the bus 506 to constitute a system. The system configuration in FIG. 1 is an example, and the network driver 504 and the infrared transmitting / receiving device 50
7, the video / audio input / output device 508 and the tuner 509,
A system configuration without any of them is also possible. For example, the network driver 504 without the secondary recording device 503
It is also possible to record the data on a secondary recording device 503 connected to a remote system via a file device or the like. Further, a system configuration in which another device is connected may be adopted according to the application.

FIG. 2 shows a hierarchical management file device 51 according to the present invention.
0 indicates a volume management method. As in the case of the conventional FAT-based file device, the volume that is the recording area of the secondary recording device 503 is managed by being divided into certain clusters (fixed size) units, and each cluster has a continuous cluster number (in the example, 2 or more). Integer).

Further, in the present invention, a cluster is divided and managed in smaller fragment units, and consecutive fragment numbers are assigned to the fragments in the cluster. In the example, the cluster size is 64
With kilobytes, fragment size of 512 bytes, the cluster is divided into 128 fragments,
Fragment numbers 0 to 127 are assigned to each fragment.

The hierarchical management file device 510 of the present invention uses a cluster FAT in units of clusters and a fragment FAT in units of fragments. The FAT entries of the total number of clusters of the volume are recorded in the cluster FAT. Fragments FAT have FAs equal to the product of the total number of clusters and the number of fragments in a cluster.
A T entry is recorded.

As described above, the FAT has a structure in which the cluster entry corresponding to the cluster number can be easily known from the cluster number. The FAT is recorded in a cluster in the secondary recording device 503, and its location (cluster number) is indicated from the system area. For efficiency, FAT (1
) Is read into the memory 502 and written and updated again in the secondary recording device 503 as necessary.

FIG. 3 shows the entry format of the cluster FAT. In the entry of the cluster FAT, a 32-bit value is recorded in the following six formats depending on the usage of the corresponding cluster. 1) Unused clusters 2) Clusters used in fragment units 3) Clusters used in fragment units (all fragments in use) 4) Clusters assigned to files 5) Clusters assigned to files (hierarchy) (Used in fragment unit in file)

In the case of the unused cluster of 1), the area 7
The value of the identifier 0 is recorded in the upper 25 bits of 01. This indicates that this cluster is not used and can be assigned to the forms 2) to 5). When the volume is initialized, all cluster FAT entries are initialized to an unused state.

In the case of 2) in use in units of fragments, the value of the identifier 0 is recorded in the upper 25 bits of the area 702, and the number of used fragments in the cluster is recorded in the lower 7 bits of the area 703. You. Based on the number of used fragments, the use state of the cluster can be determined without referring to the fragment FAT, and fragments can be efficiently allocated to files based on the information. For example, if there are many fragments required for allocation, by using a cluster having as many fragments in use as possible, fragments of a file can be recorded in a set area, and data access can be speeded up.

The case 3) is the case 2) and all the fragments have been used.
The value of the identifier 1 is recorded in the upper 25 bits of 04, and the identifier 0 is recorded in the lower 7 bits.

In both cases 2) and 3), the file is allocated a recording area of the volume in units of fragments, and all the fragments constituting the file are connected by the FAT entry of the fragment FAT.

In the case of the cluster already allocated to the file of 4), the cluster number of the next cluster constituting the file is recorded in the upper 25 bits of the area 706, and the area 7
The identifier 0 is recorded in the lower 7 bits of 07. Also,
In the case of 4), when there is no next cluster (that is, the last cluster of the file), for example, identifiers 33, 554, and 431 are recorded in the upper 25 bits of the area 706.

In the case of 4), a file is allocated a recording area of a volume in units of clusters, and all the clusters constituting the file are assigned to the FAT of the cluster FAT.
They are linked by AT entries.

In the case of 5), the application effect of the hierarchical management file device 510 of the present invention is best shown. In the file, the recording area of the volume is allocated in units of clusters. And further allocated to other files. This is called a hierarchical file, a file managed on a cluster basis is called a parent file, and a file managed on a fragment basis in the cluster of the parent file is called a child file. By using this hierarchical file, it is possible to efficiently record child files in a grouped recording area, and to shorten the access time when reading and writing a plurality of child files consecutively.

Also, a method of allocating fragments, for example, a method of using a cluster so that four consecutive fragments are allocated to a file in units and managing a group of the clusters as a parent file can be adopted.

The number of the next cluster of the parent file is recorded in the upper 25 bits of the area 708 in FIG. 3 as in the case of 4), and the number of used fragments in the cluster is recorded in the lower 7 bits of the area 709. Is recorded. If all the fragments of the cluster have been used, a value of 0 is recorded in the lower 7 bits of the area 709. When the value of the lower 7 bits of the area 709 is 0, the format is the same as that of 4 and the cases of 4) and 5) cannot be identified, but it is determined whether or not the file is a hierarchical file in the directory. You can now judge. Also, fragment FAT
By examining the entry, it can be determined whether or not it is used as a cluster, so that it can be determined whether or not it is a hierarchical file.

FIG. 4 shows the entry format of the fragment FAT. Fragment FAT entries have the following three formats according to the usage status of the corresponding fragment.
A 32-bit value is recorded. 1) Unused fragment 2) Fragment used in cluster unit 3) Fragment already allocated to file

In the case of 1), the cluster containing the fragment is used in fragment units.
The entry format 2), 3), of the cluster FAT in FIG.
5), and indicates that the fragment is an unused fragment that has not been assigned to a file. Identifier 0 is recorded in 32 bits of area 801.

In the case of 2), the cluster including the fragment is not used in units of fragments, but is used in units of clusters, that is, the cases of 1) and 4) in the cluster FAT entry format of FIG. Indicates that the cluster is managed by the cluster FAT.

The identifier 25 is assigned to the upper 25 bits of the area 802.
Is recorded, and an identifier 0 is recorded in the lower 7 bits of the area 803. FAT entries of all fragments belonging to the cluster take the form of 2) in FIG. At the time of volume initialization, all clusters are used in cluster units, and all fragment FAT entries are initialized as used fragments in cluster units. This case of initialization is a case showing an example in which claim 8 is embodied.

In the case of 3), as in the case of 1), the cluster is used in units of fragments, and the fragments are allocated to files. The entry of the fragment FAT records the position of the next fragment constituting the file, the upper 25 bits of the area 804 indicate the number of the cluster to which the next fragment belongs, and the lower 7 bits indicate the fragment within the cluster. The number is recorded.

Next, an example of the operation of the hierarchical management file apparatus 510 of the present invention using the above-described entry format of the cluster FAT and the fragment FAT will be described with reference to FIG. The value of the FAT entry is 32 bits, and for convenience of description, the upper 25 bits and the lower 7 bits are separated by commas, and hereinafter, represented by a hexadecimal number by adding an h after the numerical value.

An area 901 is stored in the directory shown in FIG.
FILE1. DAT, FILE2. DA
T, FILE3. DAT, F in region 913
ILE4. DAT, FILE5 in region 917. DAT,
FILE6 in area 921. DAT, FIL in region 925
E7. DAT, FILE8 in region 929. DAT is recorded.

This directory is recorded in a cluster or a fragment in the volume, similarly to the file. Also, directories and subdirectories below the hierarchical directory are recorded in the directory, and a directory entry of a target file can be searched by following the hierarchical directory from the root directory indicated from the system area.

The directory entry is a file name (area 9) indicating the attribute of the file information for each file.
01, 905, 909, 913, 917, 921, 92
5,929), the allocation method (areas 902, 90)
6, 910, 914, 918, 922, 926, 93
0), the first position of the file which is the divided area of the first layer (areas 903, 907, 911, 915, 919, 9
23, 927, 931), file size (area 90
4, 908, 912, 916, 920, 924, 92
8, 932). In the file name field, for example, 256 characters (256 bytes)
Is assigned. The above-described file name and file size are examples in which the attributes of the file described in claim 1 are embodied, and the first position of the file is an example of the position of the first embodied divided area. Further, as described above, the directory entry table of FIG. 5A is an example in which the second management information according to claim 1 is embodied.

In the field of the allocation method, 4
Bytes are allocated. A value of 00000000h indicates that the file is allocated in cluster units, and a value of 00000001h indicates that the file is allocated in fragments. If the value is FFFFFFFFh, it indicates that it is the parent file of the hierarchical file. If the value is other than the above value, it indicates that it is a child file of the hierarchical file, and the start cluster number of the parent file is recorded. 0 above
Indicating whether it is a cluster unit or a fragment unit by 00000000h or 00000001h is a case in which the information of the type of the hierarchy according to claim 1 is embodied. The above-mentioned FFFFFFFFh is a case where the information of the file type described above is embodied.

In the first position field of the file, 4
Bytes are allocated. When the file is allocated in cluster units, the first position of the file is indicated in the format of 4) in FIG. 3, and when the file is allocated in fragment units, the format in the case of 3) in FIG. An 8-byte value is assigned to the file size field, and the file size is recorded.

FIG. 5B shows an example of a cluster FAT.
In the areas 933 to 964, FAT entries corresponding to the respective clusters are recorded. Region 933, region 9
The FAT entry in the area indicated by 34 is reserved,
An identifier indicating the FAT, a version, and the like are recorded. That is, the entry of the cluster FAT starts with the cluster number 2. The above-mentioned cluster FAT and the later-described fragment FAT are examples in which the first management information according to claim 1 is embodied.

In the example of FIG. 5B, in FIG. 1, if the volume capacity of the secondary recording device 503 is 1 gigabyte and the cluster size is 64 kilobytes, the secondary recording device 503 has 16,384 clusters. Is divided into Each cluster entry has a recording area of 32 bits (4 bytes), and is arranged in ascending order from the FAT entry of cluster number 2 in area 935 (areas 935, 936, 937, 9).
38, 939, 940, 941, and the cluster numbers correspond to this order and become 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8), and the cluster FAT has a size of about 64 kilobytes. The cluster FAT is also recorded in a cluster or a fragment of the volume similarly to the file, and its position is indicated from the system area.

FIG. 5C shows an example of the fragment FAT. The entries of the fragment FAT are arranged collectively for each corresponding cluster, and are composed of the entries of the fragment FAT for all the clusters. FIG.
In the example of (c), if the size of the fragment is set to 512 bytes, the cluster is divided into 128 fragments. Each entry is cluster 2, fragment number 0
From entry 965 for the fragment of
The entries are arranged in ascending order similar to the AT, and the first 128 entries belong to cluster 2. Hereinafter, fragment FAT entries belonging to each cluster are arranged in ascending order.
Fragment entries for 84 clusters are arranged. Each entry is 32 bits, and the fragment FAT has a total size of 8 megabytes. Fragment FAT, like files, clusters in the volume,
Alternatively, it is recorded in a fragment, and its position is indicated from the system area. Fragment FAT and cluster F
Claim 2 wherein the AT entry is assigned an ascending number.
This is an example that embodies the matter described in.

The FILE1.FILE in the area 901 in FIG. D
AT, FILE2. DAT, FILE3. DAT is an example in which files are assigned to files in cluster units. The values of the fields 902, 906, and 910, which are fields of the allocation method, are 000
It can be seen that the allocation is 0000h, and the allocation is performed in cluster units.

In the FILE1. The first position of the file, that is, the position of the first cluster constituting the file is recorded in the area 903 of the directory entry of the DAT. It can be seen that the first cluster is the cluster number 2 from the upper 25 bits 0000002h shown in the area 903.

Next, a value 00 of the upper 25 bits of the FAT entry in the area 935 of the cluster number 2 of the cluster FAT is set.
00004h indicates that the cluster number of the next cluster is 4. Also, the area 937 of the cluster number 4
Has recorded the cluster number 5 of the next cluster,
In the area 938 of the cluster number 5, the cluster number 8 of the next cluster is recorded, and the area 9 of the cluster number 8 is recorded.
41, the cluster number 9 of the next cluster is recorded, and the areas 937, 938, 941, 9
42,943,944,945,946,947,94
Cluster FAT of 8,949,950,953,954
Tracing the FAT chain by the entry of, and finally the value of the upper 25 bits of the entry shown in the area 955 is 1FF
Since it is FFFFh, it can be seen that this cluster is the last cluster constituting the file. 1FFF
FFFh is a case where the information indicating the end of the file described in claim 7 is embodied.

From the above, FILE1. DATs are clusters 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13,
14,15,16,17,20,21,22 total 16
It can be seen that it is composed of clusters. The file size value of the directory entry area 904 is 1,032,091 bytes, and the last cluster 22
Shows that only 49,051 bytes are used. Cluster FA of file composed in cluster units
All T entries take the form of 4) in FIG.

The FILE2. DAT, area 9
09 FILE3. In the case of DAT, the cluster FAT can be traced in the same manner. DA
T is composed of cluster 7 only, and FILE3. It can be seen that the DAT is composed of the cluster 23 and the cluster 6.

The FILE4. DAT, area 9
17. FILE5. DAT is an example in which a file is assigned to a file in fragment units. The value of the area 914 and area 918 of the allocation method field is 000000
Since it is 001h, it can be seen that allocation is performed in fragment units.

FILE4. In the area 915 of the directory entry of the DAT, the location of the first fragment constituting the file is recorded. Region 915
From the upper 25-bit value 0000012h and the lower 7-bit 00h, the first fragment is the cluster number 18:
It can be seen that the fragment number is 0.

The area 969 for the entry of the fragment FAT of the first fragment in FIG. 5C is cluster number 18: fragment number 0, and the 2176th fragment FAT (number of clusters (18-2) × fragment This is the FAT entry of (128 + 1). The value of the upper 25 bits of the value is 00000012h, the lower 7 bits
The bit is 01h, which indicates that the next fragment is cluster number 18 and fragment number 1.

The area 970 for the FAT entry of the next fragment, that is, cluster number 18: fragment number 1 has the upper 25 bits of 0000012h and lower 7 bits of 02h, and the next fragment has the cluster number 18: fragment number 2 You can see that there is. In this way, the fragment of the divided region of the lower layer has the connection information and the use information of its own layer and the connection information and the use information of the cluster which is the divided region of the upper layer. is there.

The FAT chain of the FAT entry 971 having the cluster number 18 and the fragment number 2 and the FAT entry 976 having the cluster number 18 and the fragment number 127 are traced.
Since 5 bits are 1FFFFFFh, it is known that this fragment is the last fragment constituting the file.

According to the above operation, FILE4. DAT is cluster number 18: fragment number 0, cluster number 1
8: fragment number 1, cluster number 18: fragment number 2, cluster number 18: fragment number 12
7 and consists of four fragments.
6 is 1581, the last fragment of the area 976 is 1581 bytes-512.
It can be seen that bytes × 3 = 45 bytes are used.

The FILE5. In the case of the DAT, the chain of the fragment FAT can be traced in the same manner, the entries of the region 977 and the region 978 are traced from the value of the first fragment of the region 919, and the file is cluster number 18: fragment number 3, cluster number 19 : It can be seen that it is composed of two fragments of fragment number 1.

As described above, the clusters 18 and 19 are used for allocating files in units of fragments.
The upper 25 bits of 51 are 00000000h and the lower 7 bits are 05h. This entry takes the form of 2) in FIG. 3 and indicates that this cluster is used in fragment units.

The value of the lower 7 bits indicates that five fragments in the cluster are in use.
The upper 25 bits of the entry 952 of the cluster FAT of the cluster 19 are 0000000h, and the lower 7 bits are 01h.
Indicates that one fragment in the cluster 19 is being used. FILE1. DAT ~
FILE5. The operation of reading out the DAT is a case in which claim 3 is embodied.

The FILE6. When the value of the field 922 of the allocation method of the DAT file is FF
Since FFFFFFh, FILE6. DAT is found to be the parent file of the hierarchical file, and FILE7. The value of the first position of the file in the area 927 of the DAT, the value of the allocation method in the area 926, and the value of FILE8. DAT area 930
Is 000000018h, and FILE6. Since the value matches the value 0000018h of the first position of the file in the DAT area 923, FILE7. DAT, region 929
FILE8. DAT is the FILE6. DA
It can be seen that the file is a child file of T.

The method of tracing the FAT chain of the parent file of the hierarchical file is the same as in the case of a file that is normally assigned in cluster units. FI of area 921
LE6. From the value 0000018h of the first position of the file in the DAT area 923, the number of the first cluster is 2
It turns out that it is 4.

Next, from the upper 25 bits 0000019h of the entry 957 of the cluster FAT of the cluster 24, it is found that the cluster number is 25 of the next cluster. Furthermore, the top 25 of the entry 958 of the cluster FAT of the cluster 25
The cluster next to the bit value 000002Ah is number 2
6, and finally the value of the upper 25 bits of the entry 959 of the cluster FAT of the cluster number 26 is 1
The fact that this is FFFFFFh indicates that this cluster is the last cluster constituting the file.

By the above operation, FILE in area 921 is
6. It can be seen that the DAT is composed of three clusters 24, 25 and 26. In the parent file of the hierarchical file, it is considered that data of all clusters has been used, and the file size of the area 924 is 196,608.
Become bytes. Also, an entry 95 of the cluster FAT
7, 958, 959 Lower 7-bit values 03h, 03
From h and 02h, it can be seen that three, three, and two fragments are used in each cluster, respectively. In this way, the cluster as the upper layer can identify not only the information indicating its own connection information and the use information but also the use state of the fragment as the lower layer, which is a case that embodies claim 5.

The FILE7. DAT, region 9
29 FILE8. DAT is a child file of the hierarchical file, and FILE6.DAT in the area 921 of the parent file. DAT
The clusters assigned to are assigned in units of fragments. In the case of a child file of a hierarchical file, the method of following the chain of the fragment FAT is the same as the above-described method of a file allocated in units of fragments.

The FILE7. In the case of the DAT, the first cluster number 24 of the area 927: fragment number 0 to fragment FAT entries 981, 9
By following 83,991, it is understood that the file is composed of three fragments of cluster number 24: fragment number 0, cluster number 24: fragment number 2, and cluster number 26: fragment number 2.

The FILE8. In the case of DAT, similarly, the first cluster number 24 of the area 931: fragment number 1 to fragment FAT entry 9
By following 82, 985, 986, 987, and 990, the file becomes cluster number 24: fragment number 1, cluster number 25: fragment number 0, cluster number 25: fragment number 1, cluster number 25: fragment number 2, cluster number. 26: It can be seen that it is composed of five fragments of fragment number 1. FILE6. DAT-FILE8. DA
The operation of reading out T is an example that embodies claim 4.

Next, the details of the operation of the hierarchical management file device of the present invention described above will be described in the following order (1) to (14).
This will be described with reference to the flowcharts in FIGS. All of these operations are performed by the software control means according to the first aspect. (1) File read (2) Cluster read (3) Fragment read (4) File write (5) Cluster write (6) Acquisition of new cluster (7) New from search range Acquire cluster (8) Fragment unit write (9) Acquire new fragment (10) Acquire new fragment from search range (11) Acquire new fragment from cluster (12) Acquire new fragment of hierarchical file (13) New Creating a file (14) Creating a child file of a new hierarchical file

(1) Description of File Reading FIGS. 6 and 7 show flowcharts of “file reading”. "File reading" is started from S1000. File path name: PathName (Indicates that the parameter PathName shown in the flowchart is a file path name. The same notation is used below.) Byte offset of the reading start position in the file: ByteOffset,
Give the number of bytes to read: ByteLength. The byte offset is the number of bytes from the file start position to the read start position, and the read start position does not always match the start position of each cluster.

In step S1001, the hierarchical directory is searched from the root directory based on the PathName, and a directory entry of the file is searched. In step S1002, it is checked whether the file exists.
In step S1004, an error process is performed.

At S1003, the allocation method is determined from the directory entry of the file: AllocType, the first position of the file (indicating a cluster or a fragment):
Location, file size: Read FileSize and save it in memory.

In step S1005, it is checked from the ByteOffset and ByteLength whether the read start position and the read end position do not exceed the file size. If the size is smaller than the file size, the process proceeds to S1006. If the size is larger than the file size, error processing is performed in S1112.

At S1006, the allocation method is checked. If the file is allocated in cluster units (AllocType == 0), or if the parent file of the hierarchical file (AllocType == FFFFFFFFh), S1006 is executed.
In step 7, “reading in cluster units” of (2) described later is performed.

In other cases, that is, when the file is allocated in the unit of a fragment, or in the case of a child file of the hierarchical file, "read in the unit of a fragment" of (3) described later is performed in S1008. S
Upon completion of the processing in steps 1007 and S1008, the flow advances to step S1010 to terminate "reading of a file".

(2) Description of "Reading in Cluster Unit" FIGS. 8 and 9 show a flowchart of "reading in cluster unit". In the case of reading in cluster units, reading is performed by following the chain of FAT entries of the cluster FAT. Read in cluster units is S11
It starts from 01. The first position of the file obtained from the directory entry: Location, the byte offset of the read position in the file: ByteOffset, and the number of bytes to be read: ByteLength are given.

At S1102, the starting cluster address:
ClusterAddress, cluster offset of read position in file: ClusterStart, cluster offset of read end position in file: ClusterEnd, S110
Then, a variable of cluster offset: ClusterOffset is initialized to zero. The cluster offset variable is an integer and changes one by one as the cluster is read. The Location is recorded in the format of 4) in FIG. 3, and the ClusterAddress is obtained from the value of the upper 25 bits of the Location. Cluster size: Cluster
rSize is a fixed value in the volume and can be obtained from the system area. The above-mentioned cluster address corresponds to the above-mentioned cluster number, and so on.

In S1103, when ClusterOffset is equal to or more than the cluster offset of the reading start position: ClusterStart, the cluster is the cluster where the data to be read is recorded.
Proceeding to S1104, a cluster data reading process is performed. If ClusterOffset is less than ClusterStart, S1
The process proceeds to S1105 without performing the process of S104.

In step S1104, actual cluster data is read. Start cluster: If ByteOffset is not a multiple of the cluster size in the case of ClusterStart read, the byte offset of the read position in the start cluster is ByteOffset% ClusterSize (% is ByteOffset
And the Modulo operation of the value of ClusterSize. In the case of the last cluster ClusterEnd, ByteOffs
If et + ByteLength is not a multiple of the cluster size, the number of bytes read in the final cluster is (ByteOffset +
ByteLength)% ClusterSize. Otherwise, all data in the cluster is read.

In S1105, the current cluster offset: the cluster offset at which ClusterOffset ends is:
It is checked whether it is the same as ClusterEnd, and if it is the last cluster, the flow advances to S1106 to finish reading in cluster units. If the cluster has not reached the end cluster, the process advances to step S1107 to increment the current cluster offset value: ClusterOffset by one. Next, the process proceeds to S1108, where the cluster FA
The value of the FAT entry of the current cluster: Entry is read from T.

Next, in S1109, it is checked whether the Entry is the last cluster constituting the file. Originally, the file size was checked in S1005 in FIG. 6 and thus cannot be the final cluster, but 4) in FIG.
The value of the upper 25 bits is 1FFFFFFh in the format of 5)
If so, the process advances to S1110 to perform error processing.

If it is not the last cluster, the flow advances to S1111, and the upper 25 bits of the next cluster address: Entry.Hi
Substitute gh25Bit for the current cluster address: ClusterAddress. Next, the process returns to S1103 again, and S1105
All data requested by the above operation is read until the final cluster is reached.

(3) Description of "Reading in Fragment Unit" FIGS. 10 and 11 show a flowchart of "reading in fragment unit". In the case of reading in fragment units, reading is performed by following the chain of FAT entries of the fragment FAT. Reading is performed in exactly the same procedure as “reading in cluster units” shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. Fragment F in S1208
AT is used, the start fragment address (FragmentAddress) of S1202, and S120
9. The entry of S1211 takes the form of 3) in FIG.
The fragment address corresponds to the above-mentioned fragment number, and the same applies to the following.

(4) Description of "Write File" FIGS. 12 and 13 show flowcharts of "write file". In the case of writing a file, the procedure is almost the same as the case of "reading a file" shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, and in the case of "writing in cluster units" described later, S1310 and later described In the case of “writing in fragment units”, processing is performed separately from S1311. In addition, if the file size is not checked, but a new cluster or fragment is allocated by writing the file and the file size (FileSize) is increased, the directory entry is updated in S1312. Updating the directory entry, which is the second management information, is a case in which claim 11 is embodied.

If a file does not exist in the directory entry when writing the file depending on the system configuration, it is possible to create a new file. In step S1306, "creation of a new file" is performed.

(5) Description of "Writing in Cluster Unit" FIGS. 14 and 15 are flowcharts of "writing in cluster unit". Basically, "writing in cluster units"
Is the same procedure as in the case of "reading in cluster units" in FIGS. 8 and 9, and data is written to the cluster in S1404. As in the case of reading, there is an offset within the cluster in the start cluster, and a fraction of the cluster data occurs in the end cluster, but in writing, the data in the cluster that does not write is not changed in the cluster. Only the necessary data needs to be updated.

If the data to be written exceeds the file size, it is necessary to allocate a new cluster. If the current cluster is the last of the clusters constituting the file in S1409, the process proceeds to S1.
At 410, "acquisition of a new cluster" is performed.

In the example of the flowchart, a new cluster is acquired each time it is needed. However, in S1402, the number of clusters required to write all data can be known, and before the writing is started. It is also possible to allocate a new cluster in advance and start writing. In such a case, when searching for an unused cluster in "Acquisition of new cluster" described later, so that the data to be written is
This can be done by searching for the required number of consecutive unused clusters first. This is a case in which the matter described in claim 9 is embodied.

(6) Description of “Acquisition of New Cluster” FIG. 16 is a flowchart of “acquisition of new cluster”. In acquiring a new cluster, how to search for an unused cluster is important. In FIG. 16, a new cluster is obtained by dividing the search range twice in S1502 and S1504. That is, first, in step S1502, a search is performed from the current cluster to the last cluster in the volume. Next, in step S1504, a search is performed from the first cluster of the volume to the current cluster. If a new cluster cannot be obtained by the above operation, S150
6 causes an error.

As a basic policy for searching for a new cluster, the seek time can be reduced by finding an unused cluster at a position as far as possible from the current cluster position. Therefore, S1502, S15
It is desirable to further divide the range 04 and search sequentially in the direction away from the current cluster, such as the rear range and the previous range.

As described in (5), when the number of required clusters is known in advance, the seek time for reading the required number of clusters is reduced rather than searching each one. It is desirable to find an arrangement place that minimizes the sum. This can be performed by checking the usage status of the cluster FAT in advance and having information about how many unused clusters are present in the divided range. This is a case in which the matters described in claims 1 and 5 are embodied.

When the number of clusters increases, the search process takes time. However, in the hierarchical management file device 510 of the present invention, the FAT is hierarchized, the cluster size can be increased, and the number of clusters can be reduced. Therefore, it is possible to more efficiently search for an unused cluster.

(7) "Acquire new cluster from search range"
Description of FIGS. 17 and 18 "Acquire new cluster from search range"
The flowchart of FIG. The search starts from S1601. The current cluster address: ClusterAddress is given to the start cluster address of the search range: FindCluster, and the address of the last cluster of the file is given to the end cluster address (FindEnd) of the search range.

First, it is checked in step S1602 whether the search range is set. FindCluster is then used as the cluster address during the search, depending on the integer variable, and the final cluster:
Checks if FindCluster is in range, depending on whether it is less than or equal to FindEnd. If it is within the search range, the process advances to step S1603. If it exceeds the search range, the process advances to step S1611. In this case, the search ends in a form in which the search could not be performed.

In S1603, the entry value: Entry of the cluster address: FindCluster is read from the cluster FAT. Next, in S1604, it is confirmed whether the cluster is an unused cluster. In the case of an unused cluster, the format shown in 1) of FIG. 3 is used. Otherwise, S16
In step S052, the current search cluster address is incremented by one, and the flow returns to step S1602 to check the next cluster. This operation is repeated until an unused cluster is searched in the search range.

If an unused cluster is found in S1604, a new FAT entry value is set in S1606. The FAT entry always indicates the last cluster of the file, and the upper 25-bit cluster number becomes the value of 1FFFFFFh in the format of 4) in FIG. S160
In step 7, the value of the FAT entry: Entry is written and updated as the FAT entry value of the searched unused cluster: FindCluster. 11. The method according to claim 10, further comprising: updating a cluster FAT entry as the first management information after the unused cluster is searched; and updating a fragment FAT entry after an unused fragment to be described later is searched. This is an example that embodies the matter described in.

Next, in S1608, the FAT entry of the current final cluster is set so as to indicate the searched unused cluster. FindCluster is set as the value of the upper 25 bits in the format of 4) in FIG. In S1609, the above is added to the FAT entry of the cluster address: ClusterAddress.
Write and update the Entry value. However, in the case of creating a new file, if the first cluster is performed by “acquire new cluster” in (6), the current FAT entry value is not updated, and the directory entry indicates the first position. Therefore, there is no need to perform the operations of S1608 and S1609.

The FAT chain is updated by the operations from S1606 to S1609, and the searched cluster: F
S16 so that indCluster becomes the current final cluster
At 10, the current cluster address is substituted into the current cluster address: ClusterAddress.

(8) "Writing in Fragment Unit" FIGS. 19 and 20 show a flowchart of "writing in fragment unit". The procedure for writing in units of fragments is almost the same as “writing in units of clusters” in FIGS. 14 and 15, and in the case of units of clusters, the cluster starts from the first position (cluster) of the file indicated by the directory entry. While FAT is used, "Fragment unit writing" uses fragment FAT
Use When the file size is increased by writing, "acquire new fragment" described later is performed in S1710.

(9) Description of “Acquisition of New Fragment” FIG. 21 is a follow chart of “Acquisition of New Fragment”. In the case of “acquisition of a new fragment”, FIG.
In the same manner as in "Acquisition of new cluster", the search range is divided to find the location of a new fragment. The acquisition of a new fragment is determined in step S1802 as a child file of the hierarchical file. In that case, "acquisition of a new fragment of the hierarchical file" described later is performed in step S1804.

If the file is a normal file, the flow advances to step S1803 to perform "acquisition of a new fragment". In the “acquisition of a new fragment”, first, referring to the cluster FAT, the usage status of the fragment in each cluster is checked, and then the fragment FAT is searched for an unused fragment in the range of the corresponding cluster. In the “acquisition of a new fragment from the search range”, a cluster address is obtained from the value of the upper 25 bits of the current fragment address: FragmentAddress. In this case, in S1806, the range of the current cluster is searched from the first cluster of the volume. If a new fragment cannot be obtained, S18
At 08, error processing is performed. If a new fragment has been acquired, the “acquisition of a new fragment” ends in S1809.

(10) Description of "Acquisition of New Fragment from Search Range" FIGS. 22 and 23 show flowcharts of "acquisition of new fragment from search range". "Acquisition of a new fragment from the search range" is started from S1901, and "(9)"
Start cluster as search range to search for new fragments as described in "Get new fragment"
ndCluster, end cluster of search range: FindEnd, last fragment address of current file: FragmentAddres
give s. FindCluster will then change depending on the integer variable, indicating the cluster being searched. The search for a new fragment is performed in two stages, first examining the cluster FAT and then examining the fragment FAT. As described above, the case where the search is started from the cluster in the upper hierarchy and the search is advanced to the fragment in the lower hierarchy is a case in which the case of claim 12 is embodied.

In S1902, it is checked whether the cluster being searched is within the search range. If FindCluster is equal to or smaller than FindEnd, the process advances to step S1903 as a search range. Otherwise, the process advances to step S1909, and ends as a new fragment cannot be obtained. If it is within the search range, S190
Cluster being searched at 3: Cluster of FindCluster FA
Read the entry value of T: ClusterEntry. S1904
, The entry value is in the form of 1) in FIG.
If it is 0000h, it is an unused cluster and S1
Proceeding to 907, “B) acquisition of a new fragment from an unused cluster” described later is performed.

Next, if the entry value is less than 00000100h in 2) of FIG. 3 in S1905, it is determined that there is an unused fragment in the cluster, and S1908.
To "A) Acquisition of a new fragment from a cluster in use" to be described later. S1904, S19
If it is not any one of S051 to S1905, the search cluster address FindCluster is incremented by one in S1906.
And the operations from S1902 to S1905 are repeated within the search range.

At S1907 and S1908, a new fragment is obtained, and at S1909, "Obtain a new fragment from the search range" ends. S1907
When "A) Obtain new fragments from unused clusters" described later is performed, the clusters are used in units of fragments. Therefore, if the capacity in the volume is to be used effectively, the determination in S1904 is not performed. Alternatively, only the determination in S1905 may be made in the search range, and if that is not the case, the unused cluster may be used again by the operation in S1907 in the determination in S1904.

Further, in S1905, it is necessary in the current writing that the newly acquired fragment be located in the same cluster as much as possible from the value of the used fragment of the lower 7 bits of the ClusterEntry. Based on the number of new fragments to be created, a method of selecting a cluster having many unused fragments or a cluster can be adopted.
Searching for a cluster having many unused fragments is a case that embodies the matter described in claim 5.

(11) Description of “Acquisition of New Fragment from Cluster” FIGS. 24, 25 and 26 show flowcharts of “Acquisition of new fragment from cluster”. "Obtaining a new fragment from a cluster" is divided into two cases,
If the cluster is already being used in units of fragments, "A) Obtain a new fragment from the used cluster" and "If the cluster is an unused cluster,
B) Obtain new fragment from unused cluster ".

In the case of “A) Obtain a new fragment from a cluster in use”, the processing is started from S2001, the current fragment address: FragmentAddress, the cluster address to be searched: FindCluster, and the F of the cluster to be searched.
AT entry value: Give ClusterEntry. S200
In step 2, the start fragment address and the end fragment address of the search range are set so that the search range becomes the target cluster. For the address of the first fragment in the cluster, the value of the cluster is assigned to the upper 25 bits and 0 is assigned to the lower 7 bits. The cluster has 128 fragments, and the address of the end fragment is a value obtained by adding 127 to the start fragment. Hereafter, Find
Fragment uses an integer as a variable to indicate the fragment currently being searched.

In step S2003, it is checked whether the fragment being searched is within the range.
The process proceeds to 004, and if not, the process proceeds to S2005 and an error occurs. Originally, there is always an unused fragment from the entry value of the cluster FAT, so that no error occurs.

In S2004, the fragment being searched from the fragment FAT: the entry value of FindFragment: Fra
Read gmentEntry. In S2006, it is checked whether the fragment is an unused fragment. If the entry value is in the format of 1) in FIG. 4, that is, 00000000h, an unused cluster is searched for, and the process proceeds to S2008.

If the fragment is not an unused fragment, S2
In step 007, the value of the fragment being searched for: FindFragment is incremented by one, the process proceeds to step S2003, and the operations from step S2003 to step S2007 are repeated during the search range.

If an unused fragment is found,
Increase the FAT entry value of the cluster where the fragment exists: ClusterEntry by one and increase the value of the fragment in use. Next, the process proceeds to S2011, and the value of the entry of the cluster FAT of the cluster address: FindCluster is updated to ClusterEntry.

In S2012, the entry value of the fragment FAT: FragmentEntry indicates the last fragment of the file, so that the format shown in 3) of FIG. 4, ie, FFFFFF
Unused fragment address set at 80h and searched in S2013: Fragment FAT of FindFragment
Entry value: FragmentEntry is written and updated.

In S2014, the entry value of the fragment FAT: FragmentEntry is set so as to indicate the searched unused fragment address: FindFragment.
015: Fragment address of current file: Fr
It is updated as the entry value of the fragment FAT of the agmentAddress. However, if FragmentAddress is 0, the update is not performed because it is indicated from the directory entry.

By the operations from S2012 to S2015, the chain of the file of the fragment FAT is updated.
The unused fragment searched in 2016 is set as the last fragment address of the file, and the process ends in S2017.

“B) Obtain new fragment from unused cluster” is started from S2009. In the case of an unused cluster, since all fragments in the cluster are in an unused state, the first fragment is deleted. Make it a new fragment. In order to make unused clusters in use in S2010, the lower 7 clusters are used according to the format of 1) in FIG.
Assign 1 to bits so that one fragment is in use. Also, a cluster address is assigned to the upper 25 bits and 0 is assigned to the lower 7 bits as the searched unused fragment address.

The process advances to step S2011 to proceed to “A) Obtain a new fragment from a cluster in use”.
In S2011, the entry of the cluster FAT is updated.
In step S13, the entry of the fragment FAT of the unused fragment searched for is updated. In step S2015, the current fragment address of the file is updated, and the process ends in step S2017.

(12) Description of "Acquisition of New Fragment of Hierarchical File" FIGS. 27 and 28 show a flowchart of "acquisition of new fragment of hierarchical file". In the case of a child file of a hierarchical file, a new fragment is searched for from the clusters assigned to the parent file. If there are no unused fragments, assign a new cluster to the parent file,
Search for unused fragments from the cluster. S
Starting at 2101, current fragment: FragmentA
ddress, allocation method: Give AllocType. The above is a case where the search and allocation of the new divided area of the hierarchical file according to claim 13 is embodied.

In step S2102, in the case of a child file of the hierarchical file, the start address of the parent file is set in the directory entry allocation method: AllocType.
usterAddress.

In S2103, the entry value of the cluster address ClusterAddress from the cluster FAT: ClusterEntry
Read. In S2104, the entry value is 3) in FIG.
And checks if there are any unused fragments in the cluster. If the value of the lower 7 bits is other than 0, the process advances to step S2107 to perform the above-described "A) Acquire a new fragment from a cluster in use".

If there is no unused fragment in S2104, it is checked in S2105 whether it is the last cluster, and the entry number is 1FFFF in the format of 5) in FIG.
In the case of FFh, the file is determined to be the last cluster of the file,
Proceeding to step 2108, the above-mentioned (6) “acquisition of new cluster” of the parent file is performed.

If the cluster is not the last cluster in S2105, the upper 25 bits of the entry value are set as the next cluster address in S2106, the process returns to S2104, and the operations from S2104 to S2106 are repeated.
If "A) Obtain new fragment from cluster in use" is completed in S2107, the process proceeds to S2111 and ends.

In S2108, the above-mentioned (6) “acquisition of new cluster” is performed. Since it is necessary to update the directory entry of the parent file when acquiring a new cluster, the start address of the parent file is AllocT in S2109.
Use ype to search for parent files in the same directory and update the file size etc. S211
At 0, the above-mentioned "B) Obtain new fragment from unused cluster" is performed from the cluster, and S2111
To end.

(13) Description of "Create New File" FIGS. 29 and 30 show flowcharts of "Create New File". Creation of a new file is shown in FIGS. 12 and 13.
This is performed when a file does not exist in the case of "writing a file" and when a new file is created. However, for a child file of a hierarchical file,
It can be created only when the parent file exists, and this flowchart is shown in FIGS. 31 and 32.

"Creating a new file" starts from S2201, and specifies the path name of the file to be created: PathName, and the allocation method: AllocType. In step S2202, a directory entry of the file having the path name: PathName is created. In step S2203, it is checked whether the file can be created. If the file can be created, the process proceeds to step S2204. If the file cannot be created, the process proceeds to step S2205 to generate an error.

In S2204, it is checked whether the file to be created is the parent file of the hierarchical file, and if AllocType is FFFFFFFFh
If so, the process advances to step S2211 to continue creating the parent file. Next, in step S2206, it is checked whether creation is performed in cluster units. If AllocType is 0, the processing proceeds to step S2209.
Proceed to and continue creating files in cluster units. Otherwise, the process advances to step S2207 to continue creating a file in fragment units. In the case of the parent file of the hierarchical file, “acquire new cluster” of (6) described above is performed in S2211. Setting ClusterAddress to 0 indicates that the file has no clusters yet.

Next, the value of the directory entry is set in S2212, FFFFFFFFh indicating that it is the parent of the hierarchical directory is set in AllocType, and the upper 25 bits of the first location of the file: Location are newly obtained in S2211. Cluster address: Set ClusterAddress, file size to 0.

When creating a file in cluster units, S
Similarly, in step 2209, “acquisition of a new cluster” in (6) described above is performed, and a directory entry is set in step S2210. In this case, 0 is set to AllocType to indicate that the unit is a cluster unit.

In the case of creating a file in fragment units, the “acquire new fragment” (9) described above is performed in S2207, and a directory entry is set in S2208. In this case, the AllocType is set to 1 indicating that the unit is a fragment, and the first position of the file: Location is set to the address of the new fragment acquired in S2207. After the directory entry is set in each case, the directory entry is updated at 2213 and the process ends at 2214.

(14) Description of "Create New Child File of Hierarchical File" FIGS. 31 and 32 show a flowchart of "Create New Child File of Hierarchical File". The file of the hierarchical file exists in the same directory as the parent file.
In 01, the path name of the parent file: ParentPathName and the file name of the child file: FileName are given. However, in the example, the directory is created in the same directory, but a method of creating the directory in another directory may be used as long as the directory can be referred to alternately.

First, in S2302, a parent file is searched for from the path name of the parent file, and a directory entry is obtained. In S2303, it is checked whether or not the parent file can be searched. If the parent file can be searched, the process proceeds to S2304. If not, an error occurs in S2305. Next, S230
In step 6, it is confirmed whether or not the parent of the hierarchical file. ParentAllo
If cType is FFFFFFFFh, the process advances to step S2307; otherwise, an error occurs in step S2308.

In step S2307, a child file is created in the same directory with a file name: FileName. S23
If it can be created in 09, the process proceeds to 2310; otherwise, an error occurs in S2311.

In S2310, the fragment address of the current file: FragmentAddress is set to 0, and the first location ParentLocation of the parent file is specified to AllocType, and the above-mentioned “(12) Acquire new fragment of hierarchical file”
Perform In step S2312, the address FragmentAddress of the newly acquired fragment is set in the first position: Location of the child file, the directory entry of the child file is updated in step S2313, and the process ends in step S2314.

In the present embodiment, the clusters and fragments constituting the file are represented by the FAT chain. However, the use information of the recording area for allocating the volume is managed by a bit map, and the file configuration information is managed. , Even if management is performed in a different manner, bitmaps are prepared for each of cluster and fragment management, and allocation management of files in cluster units and files in fragment units is possible, achieving the same effect. it can.

Further, information such as the number of used fragments in use of the cluster is also added to the cluster bit map so that the first management information of the lower hierarchy can be identified by the first management information of the upper hierarchy. be able to. This means
This is a case in which the matter described in claim 14 is embodied.

In the present embodiment, the management is performed in two hierarchies of clusters and fragments. However, it is also possible to divide the fragments into smaller units and perform management with respect to a large volume in a multi-layered manner. It is possible.

In this embodiment, the entire information recording medium is treated as a volume. However, when a physically different information recording medium is logically treated as one volume, one volume is used.
The present invention can be applied to a case where one information recording medium is divided into a plurality of volumes and used.

In this embodiment, each cluster has a fragment FAT entry. However, a management table indicating the fragment FAT entry is provided separately for each cluster, and the fragment FAT entry is indirectly referenced. For a cluster that is not used in a fragment unit, there is no fragment FAT entry, and only when a new cluster is used in a fragment unit, a new fragment FAT entry is created in the volume. You can take the way.

Thus, the size of the fragment FAT can be reduced, and the capacity of the volume can be used effectively. Further, necessary fragment FATs can be collected, and access to the secondary recording device 503 for reference can be efficiently performed.

In this embodiment, the file allocation unit is fixed for one file,
It is also possible to change the allocation unit in one file by changing the size of the address of the entry value so that the position of the entry of the fragment FAT can be indicated from the entry of the AT.

In this embodiment, the clusters and fragments have a fixed size. However, the use area of the cluster or the fragment is described in the entry of the cluster FAT or the entry of the fragment FAT so that the used portion in the cluster or the fragment can be described. By providing fields for specifying the start offset and end offset, a file can be configured as a variable length recording unit with clusters and fragments, and file data can be edited such as merging files and deleting data areas in the file. Can be performed without copying.

FIG. 1 shows an example of an electronic apparatus provided with the hierarchical management file device 510 according to the present invention. However, the electronic device having the hierarchical management file device 510 according to the present invention is not limited to this example. What files need to be played,
The present invention can be applied to general electronic devices that process multimedia information including files that may be discrete.

[0166]

According to the hierarchical management file apparatus of the present invention and the electronic apparatus having the same, the file can be managed by a plurality of divided hierarchically divided areas, and real-time reproduction and recording of video and audio can be requested. In this case, the file can be recorded and arranged in the continuous divided area allocated with a large recording unit length, and a reduction in file access speed due to fragmentation can be prevented.

In the case of a file having a small size, the divided areas can be allocated with a small recording unit length, so that the capacity of the recording area can be used without wasting.

Further, the data of the first management information in the upper layer having a large assigned recording unit length can be made smaller than when all are assigned using the same recording unit length.
Memory size and disk access for referring to the management information, and the load required for CPU processing and the like can be reduced.

Accordingly, when a large recording unit length is allocated to a file, an unused allocated divided area can be efficiently searched for. Further, since the first and second management information can be referred to in a large range, fragmentation is performed. It is easy to perform optimization so as not to occur.

[0170] Also, the allocated divided areas hierarchically have first management information, and the upper management first information has statistical information on the use status of the divided areas allocated to the lower hierarchy. Accordingly, even when a file is recorded in units of divided areas allocated to lower layers, it is not necessary to refer to the first management information of all lower layers by referring to the first management information of the upper layer. Even when recording is performed in units of divided areas assigned with a small recording unit length, it is possible to efficiently perform the processing so that fragmentation does not occur.

Further, the hierarchical file allows the information of the child file to which the parent file is related to be grouped in a divided area assigned with a large recording unit length. Speed can be increased. Furthermore, if the parent file is given an attribute as a directory by using the hierarchical file mechanism and handled as a directory, all the files in the directory can be grouped in a divided area divided by a large recording unit length. As a result, the access speed of the files in the directory can be further increased, and even when deleting the file for each directory, an area having a large recording unit length can be released, so that unused recording areas are dispersed. This has the effect of preventing that.

Further, by using the hierarchical file mechanism, it is possible to indicate a policy for allocating divided areas divided by a large recording unit length to continuous divided areas divided by a small recording unit length. It is possible to introduce a united divided area divided by the small recording unit length as a new allocation unit.

In the case of a divided area divided by a large recording unit length, the first management information to be referred to is also small. Therefore, before recording and reproducing, the speed of reading and writing of the file is determined by the physical arrangement of the file. A hierarchical management file device that can be easily calculated from the position and can guarantee the access speed can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a hierarchical management file device according to an embodiment of the present invention and an electronic device including the same.

FIG. 2 is a structural diagram of a recording area of an information recording medium according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a table showing a cluster FAT entry format according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a table showing a fragment FAT entry format according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the embodiment of the hierarchical management file apparatus of the present invention employing the cluster FAT entry format and the fragment FAT entry format of FIGS. 3 and 4;

FIG. 6 is a part of a flowchart showing reading of a file by software control means according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is another part of the flowchart showing the reading of the file by the software control means according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a part of a flowchart showing reading in cluster units by the software control means according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is another part of a flowchart showing reading in cluster units by the software control means according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a part of a flowchart showing reading of a fragment unit by software control means according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is another part of a flowchart showing reading of a fragment unit by the software control means according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a part of a flowchart showing writing of a file by software control means according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is another part of a flowchart showing writing of a file by the software control means according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a part of a flowchart showing writing in cluster units by the software control means according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 15 is another part of the flowchart showing the writing in cluster units by the software control means according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing acquisition of a new cluster by software control means according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a part of a flowchart showing acquisition of a new cluster from a search range by the software control unit according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 18 is another part of a flowchart showing acquisition of a new cluster from a search range by the software control unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a part of a flowchart showing writing in fragment units by the software control means of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is another part of the flowchart showing the writing in fragment units by the software control means of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing acquisition of a new fragment by software control means according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a part of a flowchart showing acquisition of a new fragment from a search range by the software control unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 23 is another part of a flowchart showing acquisition of a new fragment from a search range by the software control means according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is a part of a flowchart showing acquisition of a new fragment from a cluster in use by the software control unit according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 25 is another part of a flowchart showing acquisition of a new fragment from a cluster in use by the software control means according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 26 is still another part of the flowchart showing acquisition of a new fragment from a cluster in use by the software control means of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 27 is a part of a flowchart showing acquisition of a new fragment of a hierarchical file by the software control unit of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 28 is another part of a flowchart showing acquisition of a new fragment of a hierarchical file by the software control unit of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 29 is a part of a flowchart showing creation of a new file by the software control means according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 30 is another part of a flowchart showing creation of a new file by the software control means of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 31 is a part of a flowchart showing creation of a new child file of a hierarchical file by the software control means according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 32 is another part of the flowchart showing the creation of a new child file of the hierarchical file by the software control means of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 33 shows a recording pattern of a conventional magnetic disk for a personal computer.

34 is an arrangement diagram showing an arrangement of clusters of a recording pattern of the magnetic disk of FIG. 33;

FIG. 35 is a layout diagram showing a directory entry layout of the magnetic disk of FIG. 33;

FIG. 36 is a layout diagram showing a FAT entry layout of the magnetic disk of FIG. 33;

FIG. 37 is an explanatory diagram illustrating fragmentation of a conventional file device.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference numeral 501: CPU, 502: memory, 503: secondary recording device, 504: network driver, 506: bus, 5
07: infrared transmission / reception device, 508: video / audio input / output device, 509: tuner, 510: hierarchical management file device, 601: system area, 602 to 610: cluster, 611 to 618: fragment, 701 to 709
Cluster FAT entry format, 801 to 805: Fragment FAT entry format, 901 to 932: Directory entry, 933 to 964: Cluster FAT entry, 965 to 996: Fragment FAT entry (6
01, 602 to 610, 611 to 618, 701 to 70
9,801-805,901-932,933-96
4,965-996 are also referred to as regions), S10
00 to S2314: control step

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. A recording area of an information recording medium is hierarchically divided by a plurality of recording unit lengths, and a divided area of each layer is constituted by a plurality of divided areas of a lower layer, and a file is stored in the information recording medium. In units of the divided areas of each hierarchy, the hierarchical management is performed by the first management information and the second management information, and divided and recorded in the file recording area, and the divided areas of each hierarchy are divided into the first management information and the A hierarchical management file device that performs hierarchical management based on the second management information and reproduces the file from the information recording medium, wherein the first management information having connection information and use information of the divided areas of each hierarchy for each hierarchy; Attributes of the file,
The second management information having, for each file, the type of layer and the type of file used for recording and reproduction of the file, and the position of the divided area of the first layer where recording and reproduction are started; When recording the file in the divided area of each layer with reference to a recording medium and the first management information and the second management information of each layer, the first management information of the lower layer is With reference to the divided area of the lower layer, if there is no vacant divided area, reference is made to the first management information of the upper layer, and the lower layer of the lower layer belonging to the upper layer is referred to again. The first management information is searched for, the file can be assigned to the divided area, and the file is recorded and reproduced on the information recording medium by using different types of layers according to the characteristics of the file. A hierarchical management file device comprising software control means for performing control. 2. The software control means according to claim 1, wherein:
Recording / reproducing the management information, the second management information, and the file recording area in a divided area assigned an ascending number for each layer, and identifying the divided area by the ascending number. The hierarchical management file device according to claim 1, wherein 3. The software control means according to claim 2, wherein:
Management information is recorded and reproduced in the divided area of the same hierarchy,
The second management information includes at least first information indicating an attribute of the file, second information indicating a type of the hierarchy and a type of the file used for recording and reproduction of the file, And the third information indicating the position of the divided area of the first layer starting from the first layer.
2. The file according to claim 1, wherein when the file is identified as not a hierarchical file, the file can be recorded and reproduced by referring to the third information and the first management information of the identified layer. Hierarchy management file device. 4. The software control means according to claim 2, wherein:
Management information is recorded and reproduced in the divided area of the same hierarchy,
The second management information includes at least first information indicating an attribute of the file, second information indicating a type of the hierarchy and a type of the file used for recording and reproduction of the file, And the third information indicating the position of the divided area of the first layer starting from the first layer.
When the file is identified as a hierarchical file composed of a parent file and a child file, the information of the child file that matches the third information indicating the first position of the divided area in the layer of the parent file is identified. 2 to identify the child file, and according to the third information of the child file,
Identifying the position of the division area of the first layer at which the recording and reproduction of the child file starts, and referring to the first management information of the identified layer of the child file, dividing the lower layer used by the child file 2. The hierarchical management file apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the file can be recorded / reproduced so that an area is always included in the divided area of the upper hierarchy used by the parent file. 5. The software control means according to claim 1, wherein:
Is composed of fourth information indicating the connection information and use information of the divided area of the hierarchy and fifth information indicating the use status of the divided area of the lower hierarchy, and the fourth information The divided area in which the file is to be recorded / reproduced next to any of the divided areas in the hierarchy can be identified, the divided area allocated to the file can be continuously recorded / reproduced, and the fifth information can be used. 2. The hierarchical management file apparatus according to claim 1, wherein it is possible to control whether or not to assign the divided area of the lower hierarchy to the recording area of the file. 6. The first management information belonging to the lower hierarchy includes the connection information and use information between divided areas of the lower hierarchy, and the connection information and use information between divided areas of the upper hierarchy to which the lower hierarchy belongs. 2. The hierarchical management file apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the file has usage information. 7. The hierarchical management file device according to claim 1, wherein information indicating the end of the file is included in the first management information for each layer. 8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the software control unit allocates only the divided area of the highest hierarchy divided by the maximum recording unit length in the initialization of the information recording medium. Hierarchy management file device. 9. The hierarchical management file apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the software control means can assign a plurality of continuous information units of the file to the divided area of the lower hierarchy. 10. The software control unit according to claim 1, wherein when the new divided area is reserved for a file, and when the file is recorded in the new divided area, the software control unit includes: The hierarchy according to claim 1, wherein fourth information indicating the connection information and the use information of the divided area of the hierarchy and fifth information indicating the use state of the divided area of the lower hierarchy are updated for each hierarchy. Management file device. 11. The software control unit according to claim 1, further comprising: when the new divided area is reserved for the file, and when the file is recorded in the new divided area, the first information indicating the attribute of the file. And second information indicating the type of the layer and the type of the file used for recording and reproduction of the file in the second management information, and indicating the position of the divided area of the first layer where recording and reproduction start. The hierarchical management file device according to claim 1, wherein the third information is updated. 12. The software control means according to claim 1, wherein said first management information and said second
When the management information is updated by allocating a new divided area, the first management information and the second management information are referred to, and based on the position of the divided area in the latest hierarchy in which the file is recorded. Referring to the first management information of the uppermost hierarchical division area to which the latest hierarchical division area belongs, searching for unused uppermost hierarchical division areas throughout the information recording medium, and Lowering the hierarchy, performing a search similar to the search for the unused divided area of the highest hierarchy, and assigning the newly allocated information of the file to the divided area closest to the position of the divided area of the latest hierarchy The hierarchical management file device according to claim 1, wherein the file is recorded. 13. The software control means according to claim 1, wherein said first management information and said second
When the management information is updated by allocating a new divided area, the first management information and the second management information are referred to, and the position of the divided area of the latest hierarchy in which the file is recorded is referred to. Referring to the first management information to which the parent file belongs among the divided areas of the highest hierarchy to which the divided area of the latest hierarchy belongs, and setting the unused highest-level divided area belonging to the parent file to the The entire information recording medium is searched, the layers are successively reduced, and the same search as the search for the unused highest-level division area belonging to the parent file is performed, and the division closest to the position of the latest hierarchy division area is performed. 2. The hierarchical management file device according to claim 1, wherein information of the newly assigned child file of the hierarchical file is recorded in an area. 14. The first management information includes, for each layer, usage information of the divided area of each layer and usage status of the divided area of the lower layer, and stores connection information of the divided area of each layer in the first layer. The second management information, and the first management information and the second management information are provided in one of third management information provided in a separate recording area. Hierarchy management file device. 15. An electronic apparatus comprising the hierarchical management file device according to claim 1.