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<title>Path (computing)</title>

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<span id="openzim-page-title" class="mw-page-title-main"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Path (computing)</span></span>

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</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">For the environment variable, see <a href="PATH_(variable)" title="PATH (variable)">PATH (variable)</a>.</div>

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<p>

A <b>path</b> (or <b>filepath</b>, <b>file path</b>, <b>pathname</b>, or similar) is a <a href="String_(computer_science)" title="String (computer science)">text string</a> that uniquely specifies an item in a <a href="Hierarchical_file_system" title="Hierarchical file system">hierarchical file system</a>. Generally, a path is composed of directory names, special directory specifiers and optionally a <a href="Filename" title="Filename">filename</a>, separated by <a href="Delimiter" title="Delimiter">delimiting text</a>. The delimiter varies by operating system and in theory can be anything, but popular, modern systems use <a href="Slash_(punctuation)" title="Slash (punctuation)">slash</a> <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">/</code>, <a href="Backslash" title="Backslash">backslash</a> <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">\</code>, or colon <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">:</code>.

</p><p>A path can be either relative or absolute. A relative path includes information that is relative to a particular directory whereas an absolute path indicates a location relative to the system <a href="Root_directory" title="Root directory">root directory</a>, and therefore, does not depends on context like a relative path does. Often, a relative path is relative to the <a href="Working_directory" title="Working directory">working directory</a>. For example, in command <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">ls f</code>, <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">f</code> is a relative path to the file with that name in the working directory.

</p><p>Paths are used extensively in <a href="Computer_science" title="Computer science">computer science</a> to represent the directory/file relationships common in modern operating systems and are essential in the construction of <a href="Uniform_resource_locator" class="mw-redirect" title="Uniform resource locator">uniform resource locators</a> (URLs).

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="History">History</h2></div>

<p><a href="Multics" title="Multics">Multics</a> first introduced a <a href="Hierarchical_file_system" title="Hierarchical file system">hierarchical file system</a> with directories (separated by ">") in the mid-1960s.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>Around 1970, <a href="Unix" title="Unix">Unix</a> introduced the slash character ("/") as its directory separator.

</p><p>Originally, <a href="MS-DOS" title="MS-DOS">MS-DOS</a> did not support directories, but when adding the feature, using the Unix standard of slash was not a good option since many existing commands used slash as the <a href="Command-line_switch" class="mw-redirect" title="Command-line switch">switch</a> prefix. For example, <code>dir /w</code>. In contrast, Unix uses dash <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">-</code> as the switch prefix. In this context, MS-DOS version 2.0 used backslash <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">\</code> for the path delimiter since it is similar to slash but did not conflict with existing commands. This convention continued into <a href="Windows" class="mw-redirect" title="Windows">Windows</a> in its shell <a href="Command_Prompt" class="mw-redirect" title="Command Prompt">Command Prompt</a>. Eventually, <a href="PowerShell" title="PowerShell">PowerShell</a>, was introduced to Windows that is slash-agnostic, allowing the use of either slash in a path.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Path_syntax">Path syntax</h2></div>

<p>The following table describes the syntax of paths in notable operating systems and with notable aspects by shell.

</p>

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<th>Context

</th>

<th>Root<br>dir

</th>

<th>Path<br>delim

</th>

<th>Working<br>dir

</th>

<th>Parent<br>dir

</th>

<th>Home<br>dir

</th>

<th>Examples

</th></tr>

<tr>

</th>

</td>

</td>

</td>

</td>

</td>

<td><code>/home/user/docs/Letter.txt</code><br><code>./inthisdir</code><br><code>../../greatgrandparent</code><br><code>~/.rcinfo</code>

</td></tr>

<tr>

<th><a href="DOS" title="DOS">DOS</a> <a href="COMMAND.COM" title="COMMAND.COM">COMMAND.COM</a>

</th>

<td><code><i>[drive letter:]</i>\</code><br>or <code>\\<i>[server name]</i>\<i>[volume]</i>\</code>

</td>

</td>

</td>

</td>

<td>

</td>

<td><code>C:\USER\DOCS\LETTER.TXT</code><br><code>A:PICTURE.JPG</code><br><code>\\SERVER01\USER\DOCS\LETTER.TXT</code>

</td></tr>

<tr>

</th>

<td><code><i>[drive letter:]</i>\</code><br>or <code>\\<i>[server name]</i>\<i>[volume]</i>\</code>

</td>

</td>

</td>

</td>

<td>

</td>

<td><code>C:\user\docs\Letter.txt</code><br><code>A:Picture.jpg</code><br><code>\\SERVER01\USER\docs\Letter.txt</code>

</td></tr>

<tr>

<th><a href="Microsoft_Windows" title="Microsoft Windows">Windows</a> <a href="Command_Prompt" class="mw-redirect" title="Command Prompt">Command Prompt</a>

</th>

<td><span style="white-space:nowrap;"><code>\</code> (relative to current working directory root)</span><br>or <code><i>[drive_letter]</i>:\</code><br>or <code style="white-space:nowrap;">\\<i>[server]</i>\<i>[sharename]</i>\</code><br>or <code style="white-space:nowrap;">\\?\<i>[drive_spec]</i>:\</code><br>or <code style="white-space:nowrap;">\\?\UNC\<i>[server]</i>\<i>[sharename]</i>\</code><br>or <code style="white-space:nowrap;">\\.\<i>[physical_device]</i>\</code><sup id="cite_ref-w32paths_4-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-w32paths-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</td>

</td>

</td>

</td>

<td>

</td>

<td><code>C:\user\docs\Letter.txt</code><br><code>/user/docs/Letter.txt</code><br><code>C:\Letter.txt</code><br><code>\\Server01\user\docs\Letter.txt</code><br><code>\\?\UNC\Server01\user\docs\Letter.txt</code><br><code>\\?\C:\user\docs\Letter.txt</code><br><code><span style="white-space:nowrap;">C:\user\docs\somefile.ext:<a href="NTFS#Alternate_data_stream_(ADS)" title="NTFS">alternate stream name</a></span></code><br><code>./inthisdir</code><br><code>../../greatgrandparent</code><br>

</td></tr>

<tr>

<th><a href="Windows" class="mw-redirect" title="Windows">Windows</a> <a href="PowerShell" title="PowerShell">PowerShell</a>

</th>

<td><code><i>[drive letter:]</i>/</code><br>or <code><i>[drive name:]</i>\</code><br>or <code>\\<i>[server name]</i>\</code><br>or <code><i>[PSSnapIn name]</i>\<i>[PSProvider name:][:PSDrive root]</i></code>

</td>

</td>

</td>

</td>

</td>

<td><code>C:\user\docs\Letter.txt</code><br><code>C:\user/docs\Letter.txt</code><br><code>\\Server01\user\docs\Letter.txt</code><br><code>cd ~\Desktop</code><br>

<p><code>UserDocs:/Letter.txt</code><br>

<code>Variable:PSVersionTable</code><br>

<code>Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\</code><br>

<code>Microsoft.PowerShell.Security\Certificate::CurrentUser\</code>

</p>

</td></tr>

<tr>

</th>

<td><code><i>[device name:]</i></code>

</td>

</td>

<td>

</td>

<td>

</td>

<td>

</td>

<td><code>PS:<USER.DOCS>LETTER.TXT,4</code>

</td></tr>

<tr>

<th><a href="RSX-11" title="RSX-11">RSX-11</a> MCR

</th>

<td><code><i>[device name:]</i></code>

</td>

<td>

</td>

<td>

</td>

<td>

</td>

<td>

</td>

<td><code>DR0:[30,12]LETTER.TXT;4</code>

</td></tr>

<tr>

<th><a href="OpenVMS" title="OpenVMS">OpenVMS</a> <a href="DIGITAL_Command_Language" title="DIGITAL Command Language">DCL</a>

</th>

<td><code><i>[device name:]</i>[000000]</code><br>or <code><i>[NODE["accountname password"]]</i>::<i>[device name]</i>[000000]:</code>

</td>

</td>

</td>

</td>

<td><small><code>SYS$LOGIN:</code></small>

</td>

<td><code>SYS$SYSDEVICE:[USER.DOCS]PHOTO.JPG</code>

<code>[-.-]GreatGrandParent.TXT</code><br>

<code>SYS$SYSDEVICE:[.DRAFTS]LETTER.TXT;4</code><br>

<code>GEIN::[000000]LETTER.TXT;4</code><br>

<code>SYS$LOGIN:LOGIN.COM</code><br>

</p>

</td></tr>

<tr>

<th><a href="Classic_Mac_OS" title="Classic Mac OS">Classic<br>Mac OS</a>

</th>

<td><code><i>[volume or drive name]</i>:</code>

</td>

</td>

</td>

</td>

<td>

</td>

<td><code>Macintosh HD:Documents:Letter</code><br><code>:fileincurrentdir</code><br><code>::fileinparent</code><br><code>:::fileingrandparent</code>

</td></tr>

<tr>

<th><a href="Apple_ProDOS" title="Apple ProDOS">ProDOS</a> AppleSoft BASIC

</th>

<td><code>/<i>[volume or drive name]</i>/</code>

</td>

</td>

<td>

</td>

<td>

</td>

<td>

</td>

<td><code>/SCHOOL.DISK/APPLEWORKS/MY.REPORT</code>

<p><code>FLIGHT.SIMULATOR,D2</code>

</p>

</td></tr>

<tr>

<th><a href="AmigaOS" title="AmigaOS">AmigaOS</a> Amiga CLI /<br>AmigaShell

</th>

<td><code><i>[drive, volume, device, or assign name]:</i></code>

</td>

</td>

<td><i>empty<br>string</i>

</td>

</td>

<td>

</td>

<td><code>Workbench:Utilities/MultiView</code><br><code>DF0:S/Startup-Sequence</code><br><code>S:Startup-Sequence</code><br><code>TCP:en.wikipedia.com/80</code>

</td></tr>

<tr>

<th><a href="RISC_OS" title="RISC OS">RISC OS</a> ShellCLI

</th>

<td><code><i>[fs type[#option]:][:drive number or disc name.]</i>$</code>

<p>note: &, %, and @ can also be used to reference the root<br>of the current user, the library and the current (working) directory respectively.

</p>

</td>

</td>

</td>

</td>

</td>

<td><code>ADFS::MyDrive.$.Documents.Letter</code><br><code>Net#MainServer::DataDrive.$.Main.sy10823</code><br><code>LanMan::WindowsC.$.Pictures.Japan/gif</code><br><code>NFS:&.!Choices</code><br><code>ADFS:%.IfThere</code><br><code>@.inthisdir</code><br><code>^.^.greatgrandparent</code>

<p>When filesystems with filename extensions are mounted,<br>'.' characters are changed to '/', as in the Japan/gif example above.

</p>

</td></tr>

<tr>

<th><a href="Symbian_OS" class="mw-redirect" title="Symbian OS">Symbian OS</a> File manager

</th>

</td>

</td>

<td>

</td>

<td>

</td>

<td>

</td>

<td><code><i>\user\docs\Letter.txt</i></code>

</td></tr>

<tr>

<th><a href="Domain/OS" title="Domain/OS">Domain/OS</a> Shell

</th>

<td>

<p><span style="white-space:nowrap;"><code>//</code> (root of domain)</span><br>

<span style="white-space:nowrap;"><code>/</code> (root of current node)</span><br>

</p>

</td>

</td>

</td>

</td>

</td>

<td><code>//node/home/user/docs/Letter.txt</code><br><code>./inthisdir</code><br><code>\\greatgrandparent</code><br><code>~rcinfo</code>

</td></tr>

<tr>

<th><a href="MenuetOS" title="MenuetOS">MenuetOS</a> CMD

</th>

</td>

</td>

<td>

</td>

<td>

</td>

<td>

</td>

<td>

</td></tr>

<tr>

<th><a href="Stratus_VOS" title="Stratus VOS">Stratus VOS</a> VOS command-line<br>interpreter

</th>

<td><code>%<i>[system_name]</i>#<i>[module_name]</i>></code>

</td>

</td>

<td>

</td>

</td>

<td>

</td>

<td><code>%sysname#module1>SubDir>AnotherDir</code>

</td></tr>

<tr>

<th><a href="NonStop_Kernel" class="mw-redirect" title="NonStop Kernel">NonStop<br>Kernel</a> TACL<br>Tandem Advanced<br>Command Language

</th>

<td>No root

</td>

</td>

<td>

</td>

</td>

<td>

</td>

<td><code>\NODE.$DISK.SUBVOL.FILE</code><br><code>\NODE.$DEVICE</code><br><code>\NODE.$DEVICE.#SUBDEV.QUALIFIER</code>

</td></tr>

<tr>

</th>

<td><code><i>[drive letter:]</i></code>

</td>

<td colspan="4">no directory support, just user areas 0–F

</td>

<td align="left"><code>A:LETTER.TXT</code>

</td></tr>

<tr>

</th>

<td><code><i>:[volume name]:</i></code> or <code><i>.[device name]:</i></code> or <code><i>[prefix]:</i></code>

<p>note: prefix may be a number (0–31), <code>*</code> (boot volume) or <code>@</code> (AppleShare home directory)

</p>

</td>

</td>

<td>

</td>

<td>

</td>

</td>

<td><code>:Apps:Platinum.Paint:Platinum.Paint</code><br><code>*:System:Finder</code><br><code>.APPLEDISK3.5B/file</code>

</td></tr>

<tr>

<th><a href="OpenHarmony" title="OpenHarmony">OpenHarmony</a> (incl. <a href="HarmonyOS" title="HarmonyOS">HarmonyOS</a>) exec<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</th>

<p><code>hb set -p --product [PRODUCT_NAME]</code>

</p>

</td>

</td>

</td>

</td>

<td>

</td>

<td><code>LOCAL>MEDIA_TYPE_>Download>Letter.txt</code>

</td></tr></tbody></table>

<p>Japanese and Korean versions of Windows often display the '<a href="%C2%A5" class="mw-redirect" title="¥">¥</a>' character or the '<a href="Won_sign" title="Won sign">₩</a>' character instead of the directory separator. In such cases the code for a backslash is being drawn as these characters. Very early versions of MS-DOS replaced the backslash with these glyphs on the display to make it possible to display them by programs that only understood 7-bit <a href="ASCII" title="ASCII">ASCII</a> (other characters such as the square brackets were replaced as well, see <a href="ISO_646" class="mw-redirect" title="ISO 646">ISO 646</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.microsoft.com/GLOBALDEV/Reference/dbcs/932.htm">Windows Codepage 932 (Japanese Shift JIS)</a>, and <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.microsoft.com/GLOBALDEV/Reference/dbcs/949.htm">Codepage 949 (Korean)</a>). Although even the first version of Windows supported the 8-bit <a href="ISO-8859-1" class="mw-redirect" title="ISO-8859-1">ISO-8859-1</a> character set which has the Yen sign at U+00A5, and modern versions of Windows supports <a href="Unicode" title="Unicode">Unicode</a> which has the Won sign at U+20A9, much software will continue to display backslashes found in ASCII files this way to preserve backward compatibility.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p><a href="MacOS" title="MacOS">macOS</a>, as a derivative of UNIX, uses UNIX paths internally. However, to preserve compatibility for software and familiarity for users, many portions of the GUI switch "/" typed by the user to ":" internally, and switch them back when displaying filenames (a ":" entered by the user is also changed into "/" but the inverse translation does not happen).

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Paths_in_programming_languages">Paths in programming languages</h2></div>

<p>Programming languages also use paths. E.g.: When a file is opened. Most programming languages use the path representation of the underlying operating system:

</p>

<pre> <code>uxFile = fopen("project/readme.txt", "r")</code>

</pre>

<pre> <code>winFile = fopen("C:\\Program Files\\bin\\config.bat", "r")</code>

</pre>

<p>This direct access to the operating system paths can hinder the portability of programs. To support portable programs <a href="Java_(programming_language)" title="Java (programming language)">Java</a> uses <i>File.separator</i> to distinguish between / and \ separated paths. <a href="Seed7" title="Seed7">Seed7</a> has a different approach for the path representation. In Seed7 all paths use the Unix path convention, independent of the operating system. Under windows a mapping takes place (e.g.: The path <i>/c/users</i> is mapped to <i>c:\users</i>).

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Universal_Naming_Convention">Universal Naming Convention</h2></div>

<p>

The Microsoft <b>universal naming convention</b> (<b>UNC</b>), a.k.a. <b>uniform naming convention</b>, a.k.a. <b>network path</b>, specifies a syntax to describe the location of a network resource, such as a shared file, directory, or printer. A UNC path has the general form:

</p>

<pre>\\ComputerName\SharedFolder\Resource

</pre>

<p>Some Windows interfaces allow or require UNC syntax for <a href="WebDAV" title="WebDAV">WebDAV</a> share access, rather than a URL. The UNC syntax is extended<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> with optional components to denote use of SSL and TCP/IP port number, a WebDAV URL of <code>http[s]://HostName[:Port]/SharedFolder/Resource</code> becomes

</p>

<pre>\\HostName[@SSL][@Port]\SharedFolder\Resource

</pre>

<p>When viewed remotely, the "SharedFolder" may have a name different from what a program on the server sees when opening "\SharedFolder". Instead, the SharedFolder name consists of an arbitrary name assigned to the folder when defining its "sharing".

</p><p>Some Windows interfaces also accept the "Long UNC":

</p>

<pre>\\?\UNC\ComputerName\SharedFolder\Resource

</pre>

<p>Windows uses the following types of paths:

</p>

<ul><li>local file system (LFS), such as <code>C:\File</code></li>

<li>universal naming convention (UNC), such as <code>\\Server\Volume\File</code> or /<code><internet resource name>[\Directory name]</code> (at least in Windows 7 and later)</li>

<li>"long" device path such as <code>\\?\C:\File</code> or <code>\\?\UNC\Server\Volume\File</code>.<sup id="cite_ref-netpaths_10-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-netpaths-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> This path points to the local file namespace and <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">\\.\</code> is a similar one that points to the local DOS device namespace. This format is also the "raw" or "uninterpreted" path, since it sends paths straight to the file system without converting <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r886049734">

/* start https://en.wikipedia.org/ */

.mw-parser-output .monospaced{font-family:monospace,monospace}

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</style><span class="monospaced">/</span> to <span class="monospaced">\</span> and interpreting names like <span class="monospaced">..</span>.<sup id="cite_ref-w32paths_4-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-w32paths-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li>

<li><a href="Object_Manager_(Windows)" class="mw-redirect" title="Object Manager (Windows)">Windows NT object manager</a> <code>\\??\</code>-prefixed paths (global DOS namespace).<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li></ul>

<p>In versions of Windows prior to Windows XP, only the APIs that accept "long" device paths could accept more than 260 characters.

</p><p>The <a href="Windows_shell" title="Windows shell">shell</a> in <a href="Windows_XP" title="Windows XP">Windows XP</a> and <a href="Windows_Vista" title="Windows Vista">Windows Vista</a>, <a href="Explorer.exe" class="mw-redirect" title="Explorer.exe">explorer.exe</a>, allows path names up to 248 characters long.

</p><p>Since UNCs start with two backslashes, and the backslash is also used for string escaping and in <a href="Regular_expression" title="Regular expression">regular expressions</a>, this can result in extreme cases of <a href="Leaning_toothpick_syndrome" title="Leaning toothpick syndrome">leaning toothpick syndrome</a>: an escaped string for a regular expression matching a UNC begins with 8 backslashes – <code>\\\\\\\\</code> – because the string and regular expression both require escaping. This can be simplified by using <a href="Raw_string" class="mw-redirect" title="Raw string">raw strings</a>, as in C#'s <code>@"\\\\"</code> or Python's <code>r'\\\\'</code>, or regular expression literals, as in Perl's <code>qr{\\\\}</code>.

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="POSIX_pathname_definition">POSIX pathname definition</h2></div>

<p>Most Unix-like systems use a similar syntax.<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

<a href="POSIX" title="POSIX">POSIX</a> allows treating a path beginning with two slashes in an implementation-defined manner,<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>14<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

though in other cases systems must treat multiple slashes as single slashes.<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

Many applications on Unix-like systems (for example, <a href="Secure_copy" class="mw-redirect" title="Secure copy">scp</a>, <a href="Rcp_(Unix)" class="mw-redirect" title="Rcp (Unix)">rcp</a>, and <a href="Rsync" title="Rsync">rsync</a>) use resource definitions such as:

</p>

<pre>hostname:/directorypath/resource

</pre>

<p>or <a href="List_of_URI_schemes" title="List of URI schemes">URI</a> schemes with the service name (here 'smb'):

</p>

<pre>smb://hostname/directorypath/resource

</pre>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Examples">Examples</h2></div>

<p>The following examples are for typical, Unix-based file systems:

</p><p>Given the working directory is <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">/home/mark/</code> and it contains subdirectory <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">bobapples</code>, relative paths to the subdirectory include <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">./bobapples</code> and <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">bobapples</code>, and the absolute path is <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">/home/mark/bobapples</code>. A command to change the working directory to the subdirectory:

</p>

<div class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-console mw-content-ltr" dir="ltr"><pre><span class="gp">$ </span><span class="nb">cd</span><span class="w"> </span>bobapples

</pre></div>

<p>If the working directory was <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">/home/jo</code>, then the relative path <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">../mark/bobapples</code> specifies the subdirectory. The double dots <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">..</code> indicates a move up the directory hierarchy one level to <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">/home</code>, the rest indicates moving down to <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">mark</code> and then <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">boapples</code>.

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Microsoft_shells">Microsoft shells</h3></div>

<p>The <a href="Windows_API" title="Windows API">Windows API</a> accepts slash for path delimiter.

</p><p>Unlike Unix that always has a single root directory, a Windows file system has a root for each storage drive. An absolute path includes a drive letter or uses the UNC format.

</p><p>A UNC path (starting with <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">\\?\</code>) does not support slashes.<sup id="cite_ref-w32paths_4-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-w32paths-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p><code>A:\Temp\File.txt</code> is an absolute path that specifies a file named <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">File.txt</code> in the directory <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">Temp</code> which is in the root of drive <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">A:</code>:

</p><p><code>C:..\File.txt</code> is a relative path that specifies file <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">File.txt</code> located in the parent of the working directory on drive <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">C:</code>:

</p><p><code>Folder\SubFolder\File.txt</code> is a relative path that specifies file <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">File.txt</code> in directory <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">SubFolder</code> which is in directory <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">Folder</code> which is in the working directory of the current drive:

</p><p><code>File.txt</code> is a relative path that specifies <code>File.txt</code> in the working directory:

</p><p><code>\\.\COM1</code> specifies the first <a href="Serial_port" title="Serial port">serial port</a>, <a href="COM_(hardware_interface)" title="COM (hardware interface)">COM1</a>:

</p><p>The following uses a path with slashes for directory delimiter:

</p>

<div class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-doscon mw-content-ltr" dir="ltr"><pre><span class="gp">C:\></span>more <span class="p"><</span> C:/Windows/system.ini

<span class="go">; for 16-bit app support</span>

<span class="go">woafont=dosapp.fon</span>

</pre></div>

<p>A path with forward slashes may need to be surrounded by double quotes to disambiguate from command-line switches. For example, <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">dir /windows</code> is invalid, but <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">dir "/window"</code> is valid. And <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">cd</code> is more lenient by allowing <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">cd /windows</code>.

</p>

<ul><li><a href="Basename" title="Basename">basename</a> – Shell command for extracting the last name from a path</li>

<li><a href="Device_file" title="Device file">Device file</a> – Interface to a device driver that appears in a file system as if it were an ordinary file</li>

<li><a href="Dirname" title="Dirname">dirname</a> – Shell command in Unix systems</li>

<li><a href="Distributed_file_system" class="mw-redirect" title="Distributed file system">Distributed file system</a> – Type of decentralized filesystem<span style="display:none" class="category-annotation-with-redirected-description">Pages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets</span></li>

<li><a href="Filename" title="Filename">Filename</a> – Text string used to uniquely identify a computer file</li>

<li><a href="Filesystem_Hierarchy_Standard" title="Filesystem Hierarchy Standard">Filesystem Hierarchy Standard</a> – Linux standard for directory structure</li>

<li><a href="Fully_qualified_file_name" class="mw-redirect" title="Fully qualified file name">Fully qualified file name</a> – Unambiguous name in computer code<span style="display:none" class="category-annotation-with-redirected-description">Pages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets</span></li>

<li><a href="PATH_(variable)" title="PATH (variable)">PATH (variable)</a> – Computer environment variable</li>

<li><a href="URL" title="URL">URL</a> – Web address to a particular file or page</li></ul>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>

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<li id="cite_note-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-14">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/009695399/basedefs/xbd_chap04.html#tag_04_11">"POSIX pathname resolution specification"</a>.</cite></span>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-15">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/009695399/basedefs/xbd_chap03.html#tag_03_266">"POSIX pathname definition"</a>.</cite></span>

</li>

</ol></div></div>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2></div>

<ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.linfo.org/path.html">Path Definition</a> - The Linux Information Project (LINFO)</li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/fileio/naming-a-file">Naming Files, Paths, and Namespaces</a> - Local File Systems: Windows: <a href="Microsoft_Docs" title="Microsoft Docs">Microsoft Docs</a></li></ul>

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</style><div id="Computer_files91" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="Computer_file" title="Computer file">Computer files</a></div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Types</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">

<ul><li><a href="Binary_file" title="Binary file">Binary file</a> / <a href="Text_file" title="Text file">text file</a></li>

<li><a href="File_format" title="File format">File format</a>

<ul><li><a href="List_of_file_formats" title="List of file formats">List of file formats</a></li>

<li><a href="List_of_file_signatures" title="List of file signatures">File signatures</a></li>

<li><a href="Magic_number_(programming)" title="Magic number (programming)">Magic number</a></li>

<li><a href="Open_file_format" title="Open file format">Open file formats</a></li>

<li><a href="Proprietary_file_format" title="Proprietary file format">Proprietary file formats</a></li></ul></li>

<li><a href="Metafile" class="mw-redirect" title="Metafile">Metafile</a></li>

<li><a href="Sidecar_file" title="Sidecar file">Sidecar file</a></li>

<li><a href="Sparse_file" title="Sparse file">Sparse file</a></li>

<li><a href="System_file" title="System file">System file</a></li>

<li><a href="Temporary_file" title="Temporary file">Temporary file</a></li>

</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Properties</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">

<ul><li><a href="Filename" title="Filename">Filename</a>

<ul><li><a href="8.3_filename" title="8.3 filename">8.3 filename</a></li>

<li><a href="Long_filename" title="Long filename">Long filename</a></li>

<li><a href="Filename_mangling" title="Filename mangling">Filename mangling</a></li></ul></li>

<li><a href="Filename_extension" title="Filename extension">Filename extension</a>

<ul><li><a href="List_of_filename_extensions" title="List of filename extensions">List of filename extensions</a></li></ul></li>

<li><a href="File_attribute" title="File attribute">File attribute</a>

<ul><li><a href="Extended_file_attributes" title="Extended file attributes">Extended file attributes</a></li></ul></li>

<li><a href="Hidden_file_and_hidden_directory" title="Hidden file and hidden directory">Hidden file / Hidden directory</a></li></ul>

</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Organisation</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">

<ul><li><a href="Directory_(computing)" title="Directory (computing)">Directory/folder</a>

<ul><li><a href="NTFS_links" title="NTFS links">NTFS links</a></li>

<li><a href="Temporary_folder" title="Temporary folder">Temporary folder</a></li></ul></li>

<li><a href="Directory_structure" title="Directory structure">Directory structure</a></li>

<li><a href="File_system" title="File system">File system</a>

<ul><li><a href="Filesystem_Hierarchy_Standard" title="Filesystem Hierarchy Standard">Filesystem Hierarchy Standard</a></li>

<li><a href="Grid_file_system" title="Grid file system">Grid file system</a></li>

<li><a href="Semantic_file_system" title="Semantic file system">Semantic file system</a></li></ul></li>

</ul>

</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="File_operation" class="mw-redirect" title="File operation">Operations</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">

<li><a href="Close_(system_call)" title="Close (system call)">Close</a></li>

<li><a href="Write_(system_call)" title="Write (system call)">Write</a></li></ul>

</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Linking</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">

<ul><li><a href="File_descriptor" title="File descriptor">File descriptor</a></li>

<li><a href="Shortcut_(computing)" title="Shortcut (computing)">Shortcut</a>

<ul><li><a href="Alias_(Mac_OS)" title="Alias (Mac OS)">Alias</a></li>

<li><a href="Shadow_(OS/2)" title="Shadow (OS/2)">Shadow</a></li></ul></li>

<li><a href="Symbolic_link" title="Symbolic link">Symbolic link</a></li></ul>

</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Management</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">

<ul><li><a href="Backup" title="Backup">Backup</a></li>

<li><a href="File_comparison" title="File comparison">File comparison</a></li>

<li><a href="File_copying" title="File copying">File copying</a></li>

<li><a href="Data_compression" title="Data compression">Data compression</a></li>

<li><a href="File_manager" title="File manager">File manager</a>

<ul><li><a href="Comparison_of_file_managers" title="Comparison of file managers">Comparison of file managers</a></li></ul></li>

<li><a href="File_system_fragmentation" title="File system fragmentation">File system fragmentation</a></li>

<li><a href="File-system_permissions" title="File-system permissions">File-system permissions</a></li>

<li><a href="File_transfer" title="File transfer">File transfer</a>

<ul><li><a href="File_sharing" title="File sharing">File sharing</a></li>

<li><a href="File_synchronization" title="File synchronization">File synchronization</a></li></ul></li>

<li><a href="File_verification" title="File verification">File verification</a></li></ul>

</div></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><div><div class="zim-footer">

This article is issued from <a class="external text" title="Last edited on 2025-05-06" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/?title=Path_(computing)&oldid=1289161494">Wikipedia</a>. The text is available under <a class="external text" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en">Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0</a> unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

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