Final Year Project: Using Linux Filesystems Under Windows   Chris Bryden BEng. Electronics and Software Engineering    School of Computer Science   University of Birmingham 62 13.  Appendix B: 14.  Final Year Project - Using Linux Filesystems under Windows 14.1  Initial Specification (5^th October 1997) This document provides an initial specification for a standalone Windows application used to transfer files to and from an ext2 partition. The details are a preliminary specification and are subject to change. 14.1.1  Program Structure It has been decided that the most versatile way of creating the application is to write a Windows library (.DLL) to handle the reading and writing to the ext2 partition. This approach has been chosen because the DLL can be written in C and  the  user  interface  for  the  application  can  be  written  in  a  language  more suitable to rapid UI development, such as visual basic. The DLL also is reusable if a new interface was to be designed for phase two of the project.   14.1.2  The Windows Library (DLL) The library is to provide the following functions. · =Reading   of   directory   listing   on   the   Linux   filesystem,   complete   with   file attributes and time stamp. · =Transfer of a specified file to the calling program. · =Transfer of a specified file from the calling program to the ext2 partition. · =Deletion of files on the ext2 partition   In order to provide the following functions the DLL must contain: · =Code  to  read  the  physical  disk  containing  the  ext2  partition.  The  desired function  would  accept  a  physical  disk  sector  as  a  parameter  and  return  the data held on that sector. · =Functions to read the partition table of a disk and determine the areas on the disk occupied by the ext2 filesystem. · =Code to interpret the superblock information for the ext2 filesystem to be able to retrieve and write data from and to the correct places on the disk using the physical disk reading function mentioned above.