HFS, UFS, and zFS Terminology

The documentation for SAS on z/OS has traditionally used the term Hierarchical File System (HFS) to refer to the UNIX file system (UFS) on z/OS. Because SAS sees the HFS and UFS file systems as functionally equivalent, the SAS documentation now uses UFS instead of HFS to refer to this file system.

In addition to the original HFS implementation, the z/OS operating system also provides another UNIX file system known as the z/OS file system (zFS). zFS, which provides certain performance and manageability benefits, is functionally equivalent to HFS from the perspective of a SAS user. All information regarding HFS libraries applies equally to SAS files that reside in a zFS file system. Your systems administrator, not SAS, controls whether the HFS or zFS implementation is used for a particular file system.

Most occurrences of HFS in the documentation have been changed to UFS. HFS is still used in feature names and in syntax statements and prefixes where it is the correct term. UFS cannot be substituted for HFS in these contexts. The following table lists the terminology changes that have been made.

For more information about the UFS file system, UFS libraries, and UFS files, see UFS Libraries.

Copyright © 2007 by SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA. All rights reserved.