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Working With the File System

In Mac OS X, the vnode structure provides the internal representation of a file or directory (folder). There is a unique vnode allocated for each active file or folder, including the root.

Within a file system, operations on specific files and directories are implemented via vnodes and VOP (vnode operation) calls. VOP calls are used for operations on individual files or directories (such as open, close, read, or write). Examples include VOP_OPEN to open a file and VOP_READ to read file contents.

In contrast, file-system–wide operations are implemented using VFS calls. VFS calls are primarily used for operations on entire file systems; examples include VFS_MOUNT and VFS_UNMOUNT to mount or unmount a file system, respectively. File-system writers need to provide stubs for each of these sets of calls.

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