Using Pathnames

You use pathnames with MS-DOS commands to tell MS-DOS how to find its way to the directory you want to access. Backslashes separate the directories in a pathname. There are two types of pathnames: absolute and relative. An absolute pathname begins with a backslash and tells MS-DOS how to find its way to the desired directory from the root directory. A relative pathname does not begin with a backslash and tells MS-DOS how to find its way to the desired directory from the current directory.

Here is an example of an absolute pathname:

The pathname above tells MS-DOS to start at the root directory, go down the directory tree to the WORDPROC directory, and then continue down the tree to the PERSONAL directory.

Here is an example of a relative pathname:

SALES

The pathname above tells MS-DOS to find a directory named SALES that is one level below the current directory. Using the example above, this pathname is valid only if you are logged onto the SPDSHEET directory.

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. For example, if the current directory is WORDPROC, the pathname . . \DOS tells MS-DOS to move up one level from WORDPROC (in the example above, to the root directory) and then find a subdirectory called DOS.

4-20 Using MS-DOS with Your Equity 386SX