The Extended Filesystem API

The Extended Filesystem (XFile) API classes provide a common interface for accessing files of various filesystem types. The classes also allow for dynamic loading of filesystem implementations. The XFile API also provides a means to access file- and filesystem-specific information. Further information about these classes can be found in Chapter 2, Extended Filesystem API, and the XFile javadoc files included with this release.

Using the Extended Filesystem API

The XFile API includes classes similar to java.io.*'s, which have been extended to include file access. For example, there are equivalents to java.io's FileInputStream and FileWriter classes, among others, so that using the XFile classes is generally similar to using classes in java.io. Additionally, the XFile class supports accessing files through URLs, as specified by the NFS URL Scheme.

Sample code showing how to use the XFile API is included with this release.