The Xceed.FileSystem namespace serves as the core for Xceed Zip for .NET, Xceed FTP for .NET, Xceed Zip for .NET Compact Framework, Xceed FTP for .NET Compact Framework, and Xceed SFTP for .NET, providing classes that implement generic methods for handling abstract files and folders, as well as methods to handle files and folders located on disk, in memory or in isolated storage (not available in the .NET Compact Framework versions of Xceed's products). In addition, this namespace is the core of Xceed's various data manipulation capabilties. See the introductions to the Zip, FTP, GZip, Tar, and SSH namespaces for details on their classes. 

The class library contains the FileSystemItem abstract class, which represents the root class for all types of files and folders; the AbstractFile abstract class, which represents a generic file; and the AbstractFolder abstract class, which represents a generic folder. It also includes the DiskFile and DiskFolder classes, which represent files and folders located on a disk; the MemoryFile and MemoryFolder classes, which represent files and folders located in memor; the IsolatedFile and IsolatedFolder classes, which represent files and folders located in isolated storage; and the StreamFile class, which implements access to any type of stream as though it were a file. 

The FileSystemItem, AbstractFile, and AbstractFolder classes cannot by themselves be instantiated. In order to actually create an instance of a file or folder, a class that derives from one of these base classes must be used. Since these base classes are abstract and do not know the kind of files and folders being manipulated, it becomes very easy to derive from these classes and extend the possibilities in regard to file and folder manipulation. For example, a class could be derived from the AbstractFile class to handle files in Visual SourceSafe ™ or SharePoint Server ™. 

The following diagram illustrates the class hierarchy of the various namespaces used in Xceed's .NET data manipulation products. Brief descriptions for the classes in the Xceed.FileSystem namespace are provided below. For details on the other classes of the diagram, see the introductions to the FTP, Zip, GZip, Tar, and SSH namespaces. 

FileSystemItem class

The FileSystemItem class is the root class for all types of items (file or folder) that can exist in a generic folder. It exposes, via properties and methods, what a file and a folder have in common (attributes, date, name, etc.). Both the AbstractFile and AbstractFolder classes derive and inherit methods from this class.

AbstractFile class

The AbstractFile class represents a generic file. It exposes properties and methods that are common only to files, namely reading data from and writing data to files. The DiskFile and IsolatedFile classes, as well as many of the other classes in the diagram (for example, the ZippedFile class of the Xceed.Zip namespace), both derive and inherit methods from this abstract class.

AbstractFolder class

The AbstractFolder class represents a generic folder, which can contain FileSystemItem objects. It exposes properties and methods that are common to all types of folders. The DiskFolder and IsolatedFolder classes, as well as many of the other classes in the diagram (for example the ZipArchive and ZippedFolder classes of the Xceed.Zip namespace), both derive and inherit methods from this abstract class.

DiskFile class

The DiskFile class is a specialization of the AbstractFile class that represents a disk file and exposes properties and methods that provide access to a disk file.

DiskFolder class

The DiskFolder class is a specialization of the AbstractFolder that represents a disk folder and exposes properties and methods that provide access to a disk folder.

MemoryFile class

The MemoryFile class is a specialization of the AbstractFile class that implements access to a file located in memory.

MemoryFolder class

The MemoryFolder class is a specialization of the AbstractFolder class that implements access to a folder located in memory.

IsolatedFile class

The IsolatedFile class is a specialization of the AbstractFile class that implements access to a file located in isolated storage. This class is not available in Xceed's .NET Compact Framework products.

IsolatedFolder class

The IsolatedFolder class is a specialization of the AbstractFolder class that implements access to a folder located in isolated storage.   This class is not available in Xceed's .NET Compact Framework products.