File Control Block (FCB) Structure
 
     Offset  Length  Field           Initialized to       Initialized by
 
       00h     1     Drive code      Drive specified           User
       01h     8     Filename        Filename                  User
       09h     3     Extension       Filename extension        User
       0Ch     2     Current Block   00h                       DOS
       0Eh     2     Record Size     80h                       DOS; see below
       10h     4     File Size       Value in directory        DOS
       14h     2     Date            Value in directory        DOS
       16h     2     Time            Value in directory        DOS
       18h     8     Reserved
       20h     1     Current Record  See notes below           User
       21h     4     Random Record   See notes below           User
                     Number
 
    An extended File Control Block is used to access files with special
    attributes. An extended File Control Block has three additional
    fields, starting at offset -07h (minus 7), as follows:
 
      Offset  Length  Field             Initialized to     Initialized by
 
       -07h     1     Extended FCB ID   FFh                     User
       -06h     5     Reserved          Must be zeros           User
       -01h     1     Attribute Byte    File attribute          User
 
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       Notes:         The record-size field is set by DOS to 80h (128)
                      bytes. If you want to use a different value, change
                      the field after the file has been opened and before
                      you perform any disk operation. If the record size
                      is less than 64 bytes, all four bytes of this field
                      are used; otherwise only the lower three bytes are
                      used.
 
                      The current record field is used for sequential
                      read/write operations, and must be set before
                      performing any sequential read/writes. Set the
                      current record field to the record number that you
                      wish to access within the current block. The current
                      record field can take on any value between 0 and
                      127.
 
                      The random record number field must be set before
                      any random read/write operations can be performed.
                      Set this field to the record number relative to the
                      beginning of the file that you wish to access.
 
                      File Control Blocks are a holdover from DOS 1. It is
                      preferable to manipulate files using the newer DOS
                      services that deal with files via handles. (All file
                      functions above 2Eh use handles rather than FCBs.)

Seealso:


 File attributes