Macintosh file system


Macintosh file system

(file system)A file on the Macintosh consists of two parts,called forks. The "data fork" contains the data which wouldnormally be stored in the file on other operating systems.The "resource fork" contains a collection of arbitraryattribute/value pairs, including program segments, iconbitmaps, and parametric values. Yet more informationregarding Macintosh files is stored by the Finder in ahidden file, called the "Desktop Database".

Because of the complications in storing different parts of aMacintosh file in non-Macintosh file systems that only handleconsecutive data in one part, it is common to only send theData fork or to convert the Macintosh file into some otherformat before transferring it.