What is a special file?

Special file, also known as a device file, is a file on a computer that is used for device drivers. It may appear and act as a normal file, but contains a special name that distinguishes it from other files. This name cannot be used with other file types. A special file can provide drivers' commands through system/output system calls (I/O). This facilitates the file to control specific devices or part of the computer system. Microsoft® uses special files in its operating systems such as MS-DOS® and Windows®. An important difference is the name and way of a special file. Microsoft® refers to special files such as devices and older operating systems use reserve words to identify these special files instead of main and small numbers.

Microsoft's®.Folds have simple keywords like con and PRN. May or may not have an output order input. For example, a con canE to receive written data and printing computer data to the console. However, the PRN keywords can only print the text. Cannot receive any input.

To better understand how special files affect people in their daily lives, consider a university student who has put his deadline in the CD-ROM to get into the campus and print library. Once they put the CD on your computer, the computer must read the data on the CD and open it on the computer so that the student can send them to the printer. The type of special file, known as a block device, transfers data in blocks from CD to computer. Once all blocks are transferred, the computer can display CD content to the computer screen.

In addition to block devices, character devices, and pseuxxeous to the device. The marking devices work with systems that send information about one character at once in large blocks such as block devices. Pseudo-coreIt is used to interact with commands that the operating system can do not require a physical object for interaction. CD-ROM is a physical object processed by a block device. The pseudo-state is purely deals with commands and does not interact with any physical objects.