A data management method which causes equipment such as a camera integral-type recording and reproducing apparatus to manage an external reference type container file and an audiovisual stream file by setting an attribution of all the external reference type container files recorded in a disk to an invisible state. Therefore, reproduction of the container file can be performed in the main body of the equipment, and only the audiovisual stream file can be reproduced when the disk is reproduced in, e.g. a personal computer.