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File Control Block (FCB) Structure
Offset Length Field Initialized to Initialized by
00h 1 Drive code Drive specified User
01h 8 Filename Filename User
09h 3 Extension Filename extension User
0Ch 2 Current Block 00h DOS
0Eh 2 Record Size 80h DOS; see below
10h 4 File Size Value in directory DOS
14h 2 Date Value in directory DOS
16h 2 Time Value in directory DOS
18h 8 Reserved
20h 1 Current Record See notes below User
21h 4 Random Record See notes below User
Number
An extended File Control Block is used to access files with special
attributes. An extended File Control Block has three additional
fields, starting at offset -07h (minus 7), as follows:
Offset Length Field Initialized to Initialized by
-07h 1 Extended FCB ID FFh User
-06h 5 Reserved Must be zeros User
-01h 1 Attribute Byte File attribute User
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Notes: The record-size field is set by DOS to 80h (128)
bytes. If you want to use a different value, change
the field after the file has been opened and before
you perform any disk operation. If the record size
is less than 64 bytes, all four bytes of this field
are used; otherwise only the lower three bytes are
used.
The current record field is used for sequential
read/write operations, and must be set before
performing any sequential read/writes. Set the
current record field to the record number that you
wish to access within the current block. The current
record field can take on any value between 0 and
127.
The random record number field must be set before
any random read/write operations can be performed.
Set this field to the record number relative to the
beginning of the file that you wish to access.
File Control Blocks are a holdover from DOS 1. It is
preferable to manipulate files using the newer DOS
services that deal with files via handles. (All file
functions above 2Eh use handles rather than FCBs.)
See Also:
File attributes
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