By Gerhard W. Orthuber

Cal - Pac Computing 137 W. 2nd St. Oxnard CA 93036

Voice (805) 988-9540 Fax (805)988-9540 X33

E-Mail: nccorthu@rain.

WHERE DID THE FILE GO or

The Three Ways of the "PATH"

(Basic File Management)

A major, if not the major cause of confusion and turmoil for new users and many older users of PC computers is that they do not develop a good understanding of the term and concept PATH as used in the operation of the systems.

The term Path is used in three interrelated but slightly different ways on computers.

1. First, Every FILE has a UNIQUE and DISTINCT "FILE PATH" to it.

The File Path is always as follows:

Dr:\SubDir\.....\FiIename.xxx

Dr= The Drive letter of the hard drive , cd rom, floppy etc etc. and must be followed by a COLON ":".

\= the First "\" (backslash) refers to the ROOT DIRECTORY. The Ones("\") that follow after, such as "\SUBDIR\" are dividing markers for subdirectories that are on the particular drive. and they also separate the last subdirectory name from the file name.

As an example. "C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM ". The path to the File "COMMAND.COM" is C:\DOS\. The subdirectory Dos in the Drive C:

THERE ARE OTHER WAYS TO LOOK AT THE PATH TO A FILE

E.G. :

To make it easier to get used to the PATH concept think of it as

1. a tree; there is the: ROOT Directory ( the first "\") which refers to the trunk or root. Then come the branches that are equivalent to the subdirectories (\subdirectory\). The final part are the leaves. These are equivalent to the files themselves (\filename.xxx).

2. A second method or view:

REVERSE YOUR MAILING ADDRESS FROM THE WAY YOU PUT IT ON ENVELOPES NORMALLY.

REVERSED MAILING ADDRESS

THE EARTH = C: ( The Drive)

COUNTRY USA = \ ( Root Directory)

STATE = SUBDIR \ ( Subdirectory)

CITY = SUBDIR

STREET = SUBDIR

HOUSE # = FILE NAME

3.A third way to look at this:

A ROAD MAP THAT SHOWS YOUR HOUSE AND THE WHOLE ADDRESS.

Another analogy is the Road Map. Here the drive name would be the country (C:). The State is the

ROOT Directory (First "\"). The city streets would be the subdirectories ( \subdirectory\...\). The street number would be the Filename (..\filename.XXX),

E.G. USA (Root Directory), California( subdirectory), Ventura (Subdirectory\) 1239 E. Main St. ( \ filename.xxx).

To Move files in Windows 3.x or 9x you use File Manager in 3.x or 9x or in 9x its better to use Windows Explorer even though File Manager is there. The reason is that all Windows programs follow its method. Result; learn Explorer and you’ve learned the rest. The Dialog boxes in Windows Explorer are setup just like the trees explained earlier. To move or copy files click on the file(s) you want to affect and go to the Edit Item in the menu. and Click on Copy. Then take the cursor to the drive and subdirectory you want to move the file to and click Edit menu item and Paste. To move items use Cut and Paste. You can also Simply highlight the files you want to affect in Win 9X and move the Cursor to the delivery location but the effects tend to "vary" in ways not explained in this document.

2.THE SECOND WAY OF THE PATH

The second use of the PATH concept is the DEFAULT PATH. In this regard your system maintains a default path which can be changed by programs that are running or yourself when you are working in DOS or WINDOWS directly. To save keystrokes the Dos/Windows system sets up a default drive and PATH that is used when you give a command such as to copy and do not give one of the path designations required to make the command work.

3. The THIRD WAY that PATH is used is as the SEARCH PATH Command used in DOS called ( no kidding) PATH.

This command you will usually find as follows in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file.

"PATH=C:\;C:\DOS;C:\windows"

The purpose of this command is to setup a search path to be used by the system to allow you to run a program from any directory you may be in. Normally the System will only execute and run a program that is in the default directory. This command however, makes the system search all the subdirectories in the PATH command to

find the program and run it. In the event that there are two files in different directories with the same name, the system will run the first one in the search path that it encounters. This is why, when you type install, wanting to install some program, you get a totally different installation utility.

If the program that you are trying to run or the file that you are trying to copy ( or do something else to) comes back with "FILE NOT FOUND" you have messed up your PATH somewhere, CHECK IT and you will find it.

Relax, you are not the first one to get lost in your system.

HOW DOES WINDOWS RELATE TO THE PATH?

In Windows you still need to know about the path. In Windows 3.1 or Windows 9X etc. you will find that all of your rules for naming files and where they are, concerning the PATH still apply. All the windows programs of whatever style do is to provide an easier to use interface for the functions that have to do with files and directories now called folders often. Please note that in Windows 9X, they are called folders and add a picture of a file folder but in fact they are still subdirectories, just look at Windows Explorer. In Explorer for clarity use the List and /or Details choices in the View menu item, rather than the folder views that leave you as lost before as after, or if in Windows 3.XX then use the File Manager.

When the program throws at you various dialogue boxes when you are trying to run a program save files etc. or do other things with files you find that the PATH is still behind it all. And if you know how to search the PATH using those screens you will find your file, at least eventually.

You will discover that the usual dialogue box will consist of the following components:

Assuming that the windows colors have not been customized you will find a gray field near the top right of the dialogue screen showing something like C:\???? This is the default directory that you are in. On the left appears a white box with directories of the drive you are using or the part of the system that you are in. In the right hand white box is the list of files in the directory highlighted in the left box.

Note that the left-hand box is in the form of a tree as above.

To select files and directories you click on the file or subdirectory once or to make the file "RUN" or to pick it for use click twice. To select for other purposes click the mouse key once. Remember that in all mouse operations it’s usually the left mouse key. In Windows 3.XX the right mouse key usually does nothing. One major exception is that the right mouse key in Windows 95 is a menu key. Click it and a menu appears of things that you may want to do.

Again note that you are navigating through the "PATH" it's the same as in plain Dos only its more visual so you don't have to memorize file names as much.

However, Windows or not, you must still know the nature of the Path and how it is set up to use the computer with any degree of proficiency.

File searching

Since everyone looses track of files, its good to know about the search functions of Windows Explorer or File Manager. In File Manager is found under the File menu (Win3.x). In Windows Explorer you will find it under the Tools menu (Win 9X). In both cases you will find a dialog box asking you for a name. REMEMBER the wild cards * and ? . The big one is * . With this one and some idea of the name you are looking for put in *nam*.* . Use this format until you get familiar with it. The above will find " names.txt ", " hisname.doc" etc. etc.. In other words any name with nam in the first part before the period and the extension. The last * fills in for any extension. If you know part of the extension or all of it, substitute what you know for the *. Remember that the * will substitute for any number of characters or none. The ? will substitute for one character. Try it, it will make it easier and raise your comfort level measurably.

By Thomas Adams 1991 revised G.W. Orthuber