Well - it took a little asking but it come up with "subdirectory tree" or "subdirectory hierarchy". I'm not sure these are right and certainly don't correspond to kcott's "trie" but they do give a better term for Google...

Here's the conversation with my input in italics

Is there a name for this sort of directory structure where the directories are named after parts of the filename? Like this /var/images/f/o/foo.jpg

Yes, this type of directory structure is often referred to as a "hashed directory structure" or "hash-based directory structure". The directory names are usually created by applying a hash function to some part of the file name or contents, such as the first few characters or a checksum, to ensure that files are evenly distributed across the directories and to avoid having too many files in any one directory. This type of directory structure is commonly used in large-scale systems that need to store and manage a large number of files efficiently, such as content delivery networks, file-sharing platforms, and database systems.

That is not what I mean. In this structure there is no hashing. The first letter ('f' in the example) is the first directory then the second letter 'o' is the next level and so on. Like this - /f/o/foo.jpg

My apologies for misunderstanding your question. The directory structure you described is known as a "subdirectory tree" or "subdirectory hierarchy". It is a way of organizing files into a hierarchical structure by breaking down the filename into its constituent parts and using them to create nested directories. This type of structure can be useful for organizing large collections of files, as it allows for easy navigation and retrieval of files based on their names or other attributes. It is also commonly used in web applications, where files are often organized by user or content type.

In reply to Re^5: Is there a name for this directory format where 'foo.jpg' is in '/img/f/o/'? [ChatGPT usage] by Bod
in thread Is there a name for this directory format where 'foo.jpg' is in '/img/f/o/'? by Cody Fendant

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