Short:    Smart Filesystem 4th BETA version
Author:   hjohn@xs4all.nl
Uploader: hjohn@xs4all.nl
Type:     disk/misc
Version:  0.85

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This filesystem is BETA -- this means it is not finished and
          may potentially destroy all your data.

                 USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!

 For more information, see http://www.xs4all.nl/~hjohn/SFS

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What's new?
-----------

  4 August 1998, changes for version 0.85:

  - Requesters which ask for a SFS disk to be inserted will now be
    retried automatically when a disk is actually inserted.
 
  - SFS now guarantees data is commited atleast every 20 seconds,
    even if the disk is being accessed continuously.

  - BUGFIX: The filesystem no longer gets confused when it thinks a
    disk is inserted twice.  This fixes problems with
    omniscsi.device.

  - BUGFIX: Renaming a file to an empty name with the workbench now
    returns 'object name invalid' instead of 'object not found'.

  - BUGFIX: Creating a dir with the same name as a file no longer
    deletes the file.

  - BUGFIX: 100 character limit is now enforced, instead of allowing
    you to create names of any length.

  - Copyback mode added to internal caching system.  This helps a lot
    to speed up small write operations.  I also tweaked the cache
    system a bit for performance.

  - BUGFIX: Creating files larger than 32 MB using SetFileSize()
    now works correctly.  This fixes a problem with creating large
    file disks using Shapeshifter.

  - BUGFIX: Write protection status is now checked each time a disk
    is inserted, not just at startup.

  - BUGFIX: Reading directories has been made a bit more robust which
    will fix problems with some programs.

  - Error messages returned by SFS when there was an error accessing
    the device are improved.

  - Included SFScheck in the archive -- this is a program to check
    the structure of your SFS disk.  It will report any errors it
    finds but won't make any modifications.  Read its docs and use
    it reguraly if you value your data!

  Note: This version is compatible with the previous releases of SFS
        starting from version 0.67.  There is no need to reformat
        existing SFS partitions.


  14 June 1998, changes for version 0.71:

  - BUGFIX: It was possible to open a directory as a file using
    MODE_READWRITE.

  - NEW: Soft links are now supported.  You need to specify a full
    path with Makelink when creating soft links.  Hard links are not
    supported.

  - NEW: A new program, SFSformat, is now included in the archive.
    Using this format command you can quick format a SFS disk and
    specify if you want case sensitive file and directory names.

  Note: This version is compatible with the 0.67 and the 0.68
        versions.  There is no need to reformat existing SFS 
        partitions.



Introduction
------------

Smart Filesystem is a new filesystem for your Amiga.  A
filesystem's main purpose is to store files on a disk in
such a way that they can be located and used quickly.  How
this is done is up to the filesystem.  The way information
is stored on your disk has a large impact on speed and space
efficiency, and so these factors can vary a lot from
filesystem to filesystem.

Smart Filesystem was created to provide you with an
alternative to the Fast Fileystem.  Smart Filesystem makes
more efficient use of your disk space, has better
performance in most areas and will allow for new features
never seen before in an Amiga filesystem.



Features
--------

 o Fast reading of directories.

 o Fast seeking, even in extremely large files.

 o Blocksizes of 512 bytes up to 32768 bytes (32 kB) are supported.

 o Supports large partitions.  The limit is about 2000 GB, but it can
   be more depending on the blocksize.

 o Support for partitions larger than 4 GB or located (partially)
   beyond the 4 GB barrier on your drive.  There is support for the
   New Style Devices which support 64 bit access, the 64-bit
   trackdisk commands and SCSI direct.

 o The length of file and directory names can be 100 characters.

 o The size of a file is limited to slightly less than 2 GB.

 o Modifying data on your disk is very safe.  Even if your system is
   resetted, crashes or suffers from powerloss your disk will not be
   corrupted and will not require long validation procedures before
   you will be able to use it again.  In the worst case you will
   only lose the last few modifications made to the disk.

 o There is a built-in configurable read-ahead cache system which
   tries to speed up small disk accesses.  This cache has as a
   primary purpose to speed up directory reading but also works very
   well to speed up files read by applications which use small 
   buffers.

 o Disk space is used very efficiently.

 o Supports Notification and Examine All.

 o Supports Soft links (hard links are not supported for now).

 o Using the SFSformat command you can format your SFS partition with
   case sensitive or case insensitive file and directory names.
   Default is case insensitive (like FFS).

For more information, see http://www.xs4all.nl/~hjohn/SFS or read
the included documentation.
