====== SYSVOLUMES and SYSTABLES Files ======

In order to keep track of available volumes and files, OpenInsight maintains two system "files" -- [[the_sysvolumes_file|SYSVOLUMES]] and [[the_systables_file|SYSTABLES]]. As their names imply, these files contain information about currently available volumes and tables (files), respectively.

In fact, these files are simply system variables ([[environment|@VOLUMES]] for data in SYSVOLUMES and [[environment|@TABLES]] for data in SYSTABLES). However, to provide standard access to the information in these variables, they are accessible via the BFS RTP50 (memory resident files) as normal OpenInsight files. Because they are not true files, they cannot be updated by users.

Information in the [[the_sysvolumes_file|SYSVOLUMES]] and [[the_systables_file|SYSTABLES]] files is maintained by processes such as [[attach_table|Attach_Table]], [[create_table|Create_Table]], [[delete_table|Delete_Table]], and others. For example, the [[attach_table|Attach_Table]] process builds a [[the_sysvolumes_file|SYSVOLUMES]] file entry for the volume being attached, and creates a series of [[the_systables_file|SYSTABLES]] entries, one for each file being attached.