Universal Disk Format - Definition and Overview

For other less-common meanings of UDF, see UDF (disambiguation).

The Universal Disk Format (UDF) is a format specification of a file system for storing files on recordable media, mainly media with limited rewriting conditions, such as:

• magneto-optical
• DVD (including DVD-ROM, DVD-R and others)
• CD-R, CD-RW

Lately has also become popular with large and fully rewritable cross-platform media such as:

• Flash media above the Microsoft FAT32 limit of 32 GB per disc
• Iomega REV discs
• CD-MRW discs
• DVD-RAM discs

It is much used for DVD-Video discs, but is also supported by burner software such as DirectCD, InCD and Write UDF and directly by new operating systems, such as Linux 2.6.

UDF is practically the successor of ISO 9660, supporting larger files, larger disk and more information about individual files and folders. It includes support for special file properties, such as Apple's File Types, Resource Forks, and other OS-specific data.

UDF is an implementation of the ISO 13346 standard.

UDF has been released in multiple revisions:

• Revision 2.50. Added the Metadata Partition facilitating metadata clustering and optional duplication of file system information.
• Revision 2.01. Added support for Real Time Files.
• Revision 2.00. Added support for Stream Files, Access Control lists, and Power Calibration.
• Revision 1.50. Added support for (virtual) rewritability on CD-R and CD-RW media by intoducing the VAT structure, as used in file systems such as the product DirectCD by Roxio.
• Revision 1.02. This format is used by DVD-Video disks.
• Revision: 1.0

Modern operating systems understand 1.02 and 2.01 revisions of UDF (Mac OS X (up to 10.3) only support 1.02)

UDF 1.50 is used for so called "packet-written" writable CD-ROMs. Packet writing allows CDs to be partially written using variable or fixed length records in multiple sessions. Variable length packets written CD-Rs and CD-RWs can usually be closed to ISO 9660 format just by writing a table of contents on the CD. A Fixed length packet formatted CD can not be closed to ISO 9660 format, but can be randomly written and overwritten. Fixed length formatting cuts CD capacity by about 20% relative to ISO 9660 or variable length formatting.

Older operating systems do not support UDF unless special drivers are loaded; for example Microsoft Windows before the late 1990s. On these systems, UDF-formatted media cannot be read without closing the CD to ISO 9660 format. Once closed, the CD cannot be edited any more.

In conjuction with packet writing, UDF 1.50 allows a CD-RW to be used like a floppy disk.

A contradictory rumour says Mac OS X 10.3.2 mounts and reads (but does not write) UDF 1.50 on DVD-RAM discs erased via such commands as Linux's mkudffs --udfrev=0x0150 /dev/scd$n.

External links

• For more information, visit OSTA home page (http://www.osta.org/)
• For Linux info, visit sourceforge.net/projects/linux-udf/
• ISO/IEC 13346 standard, also known as ECMA-167, visit ecma-international.org/publications/standards/ECMA-167.htm (http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/ECMA-167.htm)