TABLE OF CONTENTS Number 6: What do you want?
Number 2: We want information.
Number 6: Whose side are you on?
Number 2: That would be telling. We want information... information... information.
Number 6: You won't get it.
Number 2: By hook or by crook, we will.
Patrick McGoohan, The Prisoner
The file is one of the most basic concepts in computing. The concept of a named array of data stored on some media is basic to most users' and indeed most programmers' concept of how computers work.
Files are so fundamental that most programmers really don't give them much thought. If they do, they think in terms of creating, reading, writing, and deleting files. They know that you can store data in files, usually treat them as linear vectors of data, and that they are nonvolatile.
Users and programmers also know that files are stored on hard drives, floppies, thumb drives, and other media. Firmware programmers are rarely granted such traditional devices to store their programs and data. So, it is not commonly the case that firmware stores its data using the traditional concepts of files. In the Framework, however, files for program and data storage are a fundamental construct. It is important to note that this usage of files and file systems is not the same as that used in EFI for managing the boot partition.
The Framework defines the basic mechanisms for the files it uses based on operating system principals. The targeted environment, however, molds the...
