UCC 103 – PRINCIPLES OF COMPUTING

Chapter 4: Data Representation and Computer Files Systems

4.1. Introduction
Data Representation refers to the methods used internally to represent information stored in a
computer. Computers store lots of different types of information:
 Numbers:
 Text
 Graphics of many varieties (stills, video, animation)
 Sound

At least, these all seem different to us. However, ALL types of information stored in a
computer are stored internally in the same simple format: a sequence of 0's and 1's

Computers work with a binary number system that consists of only two digits - zero and one.
Inside the computer binary number is represented by an electrical pulse. One means a pulse of
electricity and zero means no pulse. All the data entered into computers is first converted into
the binary number system. One digit in binary number system is called bit and combination of
eight bits is called byte. A byte is the basic unit that is used to represent the alphabetic, numeric
and alphanumeric data.

4.2. Types of Data

Data is the combination of characters, numbers and symbols collected for a specific purpose.
Data is divided into three types;
1) Alphabetic data is used to represent 26 alphabetic. It consist of capital letters from A to Z,
small letters from a to z and blank space. Alphabetic data is also called non numerical data.
2) Numeric data consist of ten digits 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, two signs + and - and decimal
point. There are different types of number system that are used to represent numeric data.
These number systems are decimal number system, binary number system, octal number
system and hexadecimal number system.
3) Alphanumeric data. Combines both Numeric and Alphabetic numbers as well as special
symbols.

4.3. Data Representation

1) Numbers. Assigned a numeric number
2) Text: Text can be represented easily by assigning a unique numeric value for each symbol
used in the text. For example, the widely used ASCII code (American Standard Code for
Information Interchange) defines 128 different symbols (all the characters found on a
standard keyboard, plus a few extra), and assigns to each a unique numeric code between 0
and 127. In ASCII, an "A" is 65," B" is 66, "a" is 97, "b" is 98, and so forth. When you
save a file as "plain text", it is stored using ASCII. ASCII format uses 1 byte per character
1 byte gives only 256 (128 standard and 128 non-standard) possible characters The code
value for any character can be converted to base 2, so any written message made up of
ASCII characters can be converted to a string of 0's and 1's.

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3) Graphics: Graphics that are displayed on a computer screen consist of pixels: the tiny
"dots" of color that collectively "paint" a graphic image on a computer screen. The pixels
are organized into many rows on the screen. In one common configuration, each row is 640
pixels long, and there are 480 such rows. Another configuration (and the one used on the
screens in the lab) is 800 pixels per row with 600 rows, which is referred to as a "resolution
of 800x600." Each pixel has two properties: its location on the screen and its color.

4.4. Data Types

A data type or simply type is a classification identifying one of various types of data, that
determines the possible values for that type; the operations that can be done on values of that
type; the meaning of the data; and the way values of that type can be stored

Primitive data types

A primitive data type is either of the following
 a basic type is a data type provided by a Programming language as a basic building
block. Most languages allow more complicated composite types to be recursively
constructed starting from basic types.
 a built-in type is a data type for which the programming language provides built-in
support.

In most programming languages, all basic data types are built-in. In addition, many languages
also provide a set of composite data types. Opinions vary as to whether a built-in type that is
not basic should be considered "primitive". The actual range of primitive data types that is
available is dependent upon the specific programming language that is being used.

Classic basic primitive types may include:

1. Character (character, char);
A character type (typically called "char") may contain a single letter, digit, punctuation
marks, symbol, formatting code, control code, or some other specialized code.
2. Integer (integer, int, short, long, byte) with a variety of Precisions;
an integer is a datum of integral data type, a data type which represents some finite
subset of the mathematical integers. Integral data types may be of different sizes and may
or may not be allowed to contain negative values. Integers are commonly represented in a
computer as a group of binary digits
An integer data type can hold a whole number, but no fraction. Integers may be either
signed (allowing negative values) or unsigned (nonnegative values only
 Literals for integers consist of a sequence of digits
 Negation is indicated by a minus sign (−) before the value
 42
 10000
 −233000
3. Floating Point number (float, double, real, double precision);
A floating-point number represents a limited-precision rational number that may have a
fractional part. example

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 o 20.0005
o 99.9
4. Boolean, logical values true and false.
A Boolean type, typically denoted "bool" or "boolean", is typically a logical type that can
be either "true" or "false". Although only one bit is necessary to accommodate the value set
"true" and "false", programming languages typically implement boolean types as one or
more bytes.

4.5. How information is stored in computers

Data is represented inside a computer as a series of on and off pulses. Humans think of those
pulses in terms of a binary-based numbering system.

Information is stored in computers in the form of bits. A bit is used to represent information in
the computer. They are referred to as binary digits i.e. the 0’s and 1’s with 0 representing an
OFF state and 1 representing an ON state. The stored bits are usually retrieved from computers
memory for manipulation by the processor

A single bit alone cannot represent a number, letters or special characters, to represent
information; bits are combined into groups of eight. A group of eight bits is called a byte. Each
byte can be used to represent a number, letter or special character.

Binary Numbers
Normally we write numbers using digits 0 to 9. This is called base 10. However, any positive
integer (whole number) can be easily represented by a sequence of 0's and 1's. Numbers in this
form are said to be in base 2 and they are called binary numbers. Base 10 numbers use a
positional system based on powers of 10 to indicate their value. The number 123 is really 1
hundred + 2 tens + 3 ones. The value of each position is determined by ever-higher powers of
10, read from left to right. Base 2 works the same way, just with different powers. The number
101 in base 2 is really 1 four + 0 twos + 1 one (which equals 5 in base 10).

4.6. Computer Files System

A computer file is a resource for storing information, which is available to a computer
program and is usually based on some kind of durable storage.

4.6.1. File Contents

A computer file must have a file name. On most modern operating systems, files are organized
into one-dimensional arrays of bytes. The format of a file is defined by its content since a file
is solely a container for data, although, on some platforms the format is usually indicated by its
filename extension, specifying the rules for how the bytes must be organized and interpreted
meaningfully.
For example,
 .txt – plain text files -
 .doc/ .docx – word processing file
 .xls – spreadsheet file (excel)
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  .pdf – portable document format
 .exe – executable file

NB. A computer file must have a file name and an extension that indicates the content of the
file.

4.6.2. File Size

File size measures the size of a computer file. Typically it is measured in bytes and indicates
how much storage is associated with the file. The actual amount of disk space consumed by the
file depends on the file system. The maximum file size a file system supports depends on the
number of bits reserved to store size information and the total size of the file system. Some
common file size units are:
 1 byte = 8 bit
 1 KiB = 1,024 bytes
 1 MiB = 1,048,576 bytes
 1 GiB = 1,073,741,824 bytes
 1 TiB = 1,099,511,627,776 bytes

4.6.3. Organizing the data in a file

Information in a computer file can consist of smaller packets of information (often called
"records" or "lines") that are individually different but share some common traits. For example,
a payroll file might contain information concerning all the employees in a company and their
payroll details; each record in the payroll file concerns just one employee, and all the records
have the common trait of being related to payroll—this is very similar to placing all payroll
information into a specific filing cabinet in an office that does not have a computer. A text file
may contain lines of text, corresponding to printed lines on a piece of paper.

The way information is grouped into a file is entirely up to how it is designed. This has led to a
plethora of more or less standardized file structures for all imaginable purposes, from the
simplest to the most complex. Most computer files are used by computer programs which
create, modify or delete the files for their own use on an as-needed basis. The programmers
who create the programs decide what files are needed, how they are to be used and (often) their
names. In some cases, computer programs manipulate files that are made visible to the
computer user. For example, in a word-processing, the user manipulates document files that the
user personally names. Although the content of the document file is arranged in a format that
the word-processing program understands, the user is able to choose the name and location of
the file and provide the bulk of the information (such as words and text) that will be stored in
the file.

Many applications pack all their data files into a single file called archive file, using internal
markers to discern the different types of information contained within. The benefits of the
archive file are to lower the number of files for easier transfer, to reduce storage usage, or just
to organize outdated files. The archive file must often be unpacked before next using.

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4.7. File Operations
The most basic operations that programs can perform on a file are:
 Create a new file
 Change the access permissions and attributes/characteristics of a file
 Access permissions – rights on how the users can use the file
 File attributes are metadata associated with computer files that define file
system behavior. Each attribute can have one of two states: set and cleared
 Open a file, which makes the file contents available to the program
 Read data from a file
 Write data to a file
 Close a file, terminating the association between it and the program

4.8. Computer File Systems

A filesystem is the methods and data structures that an operating system uses to keep track of
files on a disk or partition; that is, the way the files are organized on the disk. It is a method for
storing and organizing computer files and the data they contain to make it easy to find and
access them. A file system is used to control how information is stored and retrieved. A file
system is a set of abstract data types that are implemented for the storage, hierarchical
organization, manipulation, navigation, access, and retrieval of data.

Most computers have at least one file system. Some computers allow the use of several
different file systems.

File systems are used to implement type of data store to store, retrieve and update a set of file.
Without a file system, information placed in a storage area would be one large body of
information with no way to tell where one piece of information stops and the next begins. File
systems may use a data storage device such as a hard disk or CD-ROM and involve
maintaining the physical location of the files, or they may be virtual and exist only as an access
method for virtual data or for data over a network (e.g. NFS).

The file system manages access to both the content of files and the metadata about those files.
It is responsible for arranging storage space; reliability, efficiency, and tuning with regard to
the physical storage medium are important design considerations.

4.9. Functions of File System

a). Space Management
File systems allocate space in a granular manner, usually multiple physical units on the device.
The file system is responsible for organizing files and directories, and keeping track of which
areas of the media belong to which file and which are not being used.

File System Fragmentation

File system fragmentation occurs when unused space or single files are not contiguous. As a
file system is used, files are created, modified and deleted. When a file is created the file
system allocates space for the data. Some file systems permit or require specifying an initial

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space allocation and subsequent incremental allocations as the file grows. As files are deleted
the space they were allocated eventually is considered available for use by other files. This
creates alternating used and unused areas of various sizes. This is free space fragmentation.
When a file is created and there is not an area of contiguous space available for its initial
allocation the space must be assigned in fragments. When a file is modified such that it
becomes larger it may exceed the space initially allocated to it, another allocation must be
assigned elsewhere and the file becomes fragmented.

b). Restricting and permitting access

There are several mechanisms used by file systems to control access to data. Usually the intent
is to prevent reading or modifying files by a user or group of users. Another reason is to ensure
data is modified in a controlled way so access may be restricted to a specific program.
Examples include passwords stored in the metadata of the file or elsewhere and file
permissions in the form of permission bits, access control lists, or capabilities. The need for file
system utilities to be able to access the data at the media level to reorganize the structures and
provide efficient backup usually means that these are only effective for polite users but are not
effective against intruders.

Methods for encrypting file data are sometimes included in the file system. This is very
effective since there is no need for file system utilities to know the encryption seed to
effectively manage the data. The risks of relying on encryption include the fact that an attacker
can copy the data and use brute force to decrypt the data. Losing the seed means losing the
data.

c). Maintaining integrity

One significant responsibility of a file system is to ensure that, regardless of the actions by
programs accessing the data, the structure remains consistent. This includes actions taken if a
program modifying data terminates abnormally or neglects to inform the file system that it has
completed its activities. This may include updating the metadata, the directory entry and
handling any data that was buffered but not yet updated on the physical storage media. Other
failures which the file system must deal with include media failures or loss of connection to
remote systems.

In the event of an operating system failure or "soft" power failure, special routines in the file
system must be invoked similar to when an individual program fails. The file system must also
be able to correct damaged structures. These may occur as a result of an operating system
failure for which the OS was unable to notify the file system, power failure or reset. The file
system must also record events to allow analysis of systemic issues as well as problems with
specific files or directories.

d). Manage User data

The most important purpose of a file system is to manage user data. This includes storing,
retrieving and updating data. Some file systems accept data for storage as a stream of bytes
which are collected and stored in a manner efficient for the media. When a program retrieves

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the data it specifies the size of a memory buffer and the file system transfers data from the
media to the buffer. Sometimes a runtime library routine may allow the user program to define
a record based on a library call specifying a length. When the user program reads the data the
library retrieves data via the file system and returns a record.

Some file systems allow the specification of a fixed record length which is used for all write
and reads. This facilitates updating records.

An identification for each record, also known as a key, makes for a more sophisticated file
system. The user program can read, write and update records without regard with their
location. This requires complicated management of blocks of media usually separating key
blocks and data blocks. Very efficient algorithms can be developed with pyramid structure for
locating records.

4.10. Types of File Systems

File system types can be classified into disk/tape file systems, network file systems and
special-purpose file systems.

Disk file systems

Disk file systems are file systems which manage data on permanent storage devices, A disk file
system takes advantages of the ability of disk storage media to randomly address data in a short
amount of time. Additional considerations include the speed of accessing data following that
initially requested and the anticipation that the following data may also be requested. This
permits multiple users (or processes) access to various data on the disk without regard to the
sequential location of the data.
Examples; File Allocation Table (FAT) New Technology File System (NTFS)

Flash file systems

A flash file system considers the special abilities, performance and restrictions of flash memory
devices. Frequently a disk file system can use a flash memory device as the underlying storage
media but it is much better to use a file system specifically designed for a flash device.

Tape file systems

A tape file system is a file system and tape format designed to store files on tape in a self-
describing form. Magnetic tapes are sequential storage media with significantly longer random
data access times than disks, posing challenges to the creation and efficient management of a
general-purpose file system.

Database file systems

Another concept for file management is the idea of a database-based file system. Instead of, or
in addition to, hierarchical structured management, files are identified by their characteristics,
like type of file, topic, author, or similar rich metadata

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Transactional file systems
Some programs need to update multiple files "all at once". For example, a software installation
may write program binaries, libraries, and configuration files. If the software installation fails,
the program may be unusable. Transaction file systems creates temporary files that keeps
records of the current transactions. The transaction files are used to update the master files.

Transaction processing introduces the isolation guarantee, which states that operations within a
transaction are hidden from other threads on the system until the transaction commits, and that
interfering operations on the system will be properly serialized with the transaction.
Transactions also provide the atomicity guarantee, that operations inside of a transaction are
either all committed, or the transaction can be aborted and the system discards all of its partial
results. This means that if there is a crash or power failure, after recovery, the stored state will
be consistent. Either the software will be completely installed or the failed installation will be
completely rolled back, but an unusable partial install will not be left on the system.

Ensuring consistency across multiple file system operations is difficult, if not impossible,
without file system transactions. File locking can be used as a concurrency control mechanism
for individual files, but it typically does not protect the directory structure or file metadata. For
instance, file locking cannot prevent race conditions on symbolic links. File locking also
cannot automatically roll back a failed operation, such as a software upgrade; this requires
atomicity.

Journaling file systems are one technique used to introduce transaction-level consistency to file
system structures. Journal transactions are not exposed to programs as part of the OS API; they
are only used internally to ensure consistency at the granularity of a single system call.

Data backup systems typically do not provide support for direct backup of data stored in a
transactional manner, which makes recovery of reliable and consistent data sets difficult. Most
backup software simply notes what files have changed since a certain time, regardless of the
transactional state shared across multiple files in the overall dataset. As a workaround, some
database systems simply produce an archived state file containing all data up to that point, and
the backup software only backs that up and does not interact directly with the active
transactional databases at all. Recovery requires separate recreation of the database from the
state file, after the file has been restored by the backup software.

Network file systems

The Network File System, or NFS, is a distributed file system that allows you to access files
and directories located on remote computers and treat those files and directories as if they were
local. For example, you can use operating system commands to create, remove, read, write, and
set file attributes for remote files and directories. A network file system is a file system that acts
as a client for a remote file access protocol, providing access to files on a server.
Features
a) Access transparency is that clients are unaware that files are distributed and can access
them in the same way as local files are accessed.

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b) Location transparency A consistent name space exists encompassing local as well as
remote files. The name of a file does not give its location.
c) Concurrency transparency All clients have the same view of the state of the file system.
This means that if one process is modifying a file, any other processes on the same system
or remote systems that are accessing the files will see the modifications in a coherent
manner.
d) Failure transparency The client and client programs should operate correctly after a server
failure.
e) Heterogeneity File service should be provided across different hardware and operating
system platforms.
f) Scalability The file system should work well in small environments (1 machine, a dozen
machines) and also scale gracefully to huge ones (hundreds through tens of thousands of
systems).
g) Replication transparency To support scalability, we may wish to replicate files across
multiple servers. Clients should be unaware of this.
h) Migration transparency Files should be able to move around without the client's
knowledge.

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