In Unix operating system, special files are used to :
2015
In Unix operating system, special files are used to :
- A.
buffer data received in its input from where a process reads
- B.
provide a mechanism to map physical device to file names
- C.
store list of file names plus pointers associated with i-nodes
- D.
store information entered by a user application program or utility program
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Correct answer: B
Answer: provide a mechanism to map physical device to file names
Short explanation: Special files (also called device files) are filesystem entries that represent hardware or virtual devices. They provide filenames that map to device drivers so programs can use standard file operations (open, read, write, ioctl) to interact with devices.
Typical location: device files are commonly found under /dev.
Two main types: character special files (for byte-stream devices like serial ports) and block special files (for block devices like disks).
Accessing a special file forwards operations to the device driver, effectively mapping the physical device to a filesystem name.
Why the other choices are incorrect:
Buffering data for process input is handled by the kernel and I/O subsystems, not by special files.
Storing a list of file names plus pointers to inodes describes directory structures, which map names to inode numbers; this is not the role of special files.
Storing information entered by applications is the role of regular (ordinary) files, not special device files.