Using pathnames – Epson LT - 286e User Manual

Page 75

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To list the files in a different directory on the current drive,

type the pathname of that directory. For example, to list the

contents of the LEDGER subdirectory while logged onto

drive C, type

DIR \LEDGER

and press Enter. (Pathnames

are described below.)

Using Pathnames

Whenever you want to access a file that is not in the current

directory, you must specify the file’s pathname. A full pathname

consists of one or more directory names separated by

backslashes and followed by the filename. The pathname tells

MS-DOS where your file is stored.

For instance, in the directory structure shown previously in this

chapter, if you had a file named APRIL.TXT stored in the

subdirectory named LETTERS, the full pathname of that file

would be:

This pathname tells MS-DOS to start at the root directory

and go through two subdirectories (WORDPROC and

PERSONAL) to find the LETTERS subdirectory. Once in the

LETTERS subdirectory, MS-DOS finds the file called

APRIL.TXT.

The first backslash tells MS-DOS to begin at the root directory.

If you omit the backslash at the beginning of the pathname,

MS-DOS begins the search at the current directory. For

example, if the current directory is PERSONAL and you want

MS-DOS to find the file APRIL.TXT, which is stored in the

subdirectory LETTERS, you can specify the pathname like

this:

LETTERS\APRIL.TXT

3-10

Using MS-DOS With Your Computer

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