i5/OS, OS/400 Integrated File System

Q.  What is OS/400 IFS?

A.   IFS stands for Integrated File System. It brings all of the other file systems under a single umbrella.

The traditional LIBRARY/FILE system resides in the IFS, as does the shared folder system (QDLS) as well as a Unix-like system named QOpenSys.

Generally, when people say "IFS" they mean the Unix-like portion. These Unix-like files are called stream files, and do not necessarily contain a fixed record length, or any record length at all! They are treated as a stream of bytes instead of a group of records.

.  File System Concepts V5R1 page:
  http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/html/as400/v5r1/ic2924/info/rzaia/rzaiacon.htm

.  IFS Introduction V5R1 manual:
  http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/html/as400/v5r1/ic2924/info/ifs/rzaaxmst02.htm

.  IFS Examples V5R1 page:
  http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/html/as400/v5r1/ic2924/info/rzaia/rzaiaexp.htm