Relative pathnames can tell MS-DOS to move upward in the directory tree as well as downward. The symbol . . (two periods) in a pathname tells MS-DOS to move upward one level in the tree. Thus, if the default directory were WORDPROC (in the above example), the pathname . . \ DOS would tell MS-DOS to move up one level from WORDPROC (in this case to the root directory) and then find a subdirectory called DOS.

You can use either relative or absolute pathnames at any time, as long as you give MS-DOSenough information to find the directory or file at the end of the pathname.

Including Filenames With Pathnames

You usually use a pathname when you want to access a file that is not stored in the current default directory. The name of the file you want to access is specified at the end of the pathname, like this:

TYPE \WORDPROC\PERSONAL\JEAN1204.DOC

This command tells MS-DOS to list on screen (TYPE) the contents of the file JEAN 1204.DOC, which is stored in the directory \ WORDPROC\ PERSONAL. Note that the filename is connected to the pathname by a backslash character-the same character used to separate the various directories in the pathname itself.

Including Drive Letters With Pathnames and Filenames

As explained earlier, if you want to access a file stored on a drive other than the default drive, you have to include a drive designator (A:, for example) along with the filename. Likewise, if the file you want is not stored in the default directory of that drive, you need to include a pathname as well as the drive designator.

Using MS-DOS With Your Computer 3-19