Pathnames

Every file and directory in the file system can be identified by a complete list of the names of the directories that are on the route from the root directory to that file or directory.

Each directory name on the route is separated by a / (forward slash). For example:

/usr/local/bin/ue

This gives the full pathname starting at the root directory and going down through the directories usr, local and bin to the file ue - the program for the MicroEMACS editor.

You can picture the full pathname as looking like this:

                      /(root)
                         |
                         | 
                ---------------------
                  |              |
                 tmp            usr
                                 |
                          ---------------- ... ----
                          |        |              |
                       /games   /local         /spool
                                   |
                            ---------------
                                |
                              /bin
                                |
                                ---------
                                        |
                                        ue

• Relative pathnames

This site maintained by unixhelp@mathcs.duq.edu