A method and apparatus for storing, updating, adding, deleting, and locating
file
system objects on a WORM storage medium, wherein information can be written to,
but not erased from, the storage medium. The WORM storage medium has a writeable
area that includes a system area and a data area. The system area includes system
information regarding the file system objects on the storage medium. A system sector
is written starting at one end of the system area, while the content of the file
system objects is written in the data area starting at another end of the writeable
area. When a change is made to the file system objects in the writeable area, an
updated system sector is generated that replaces the previous file system information
for those modified file system objects. Since the previous system sector is not
erasable, the updated system sector is written in a location in the system area
where it will be read before any previous system sectors. The updated system sector
overrides file system information in previously generated system sectors. The information
required to access all the file system objects on the storage medium may be included
in the updated system sector, or in the updated system sector along with one or
more of the previously generated system sectors.