The PATH

Suppose we saved a MEMO file and gave it the name NOTES. It turns out that although we just gave it the name NOTES, the "real" name of the file is C:\_DAT\NOTES.TXT. This gives you complete information about the name of the file and its "path" (where you'll find the file stored). In other words, the whole file name of any given file consists of the 8 character name you gave it plus its 3 character extension (.TXT in the case of MEMO files), plus its location or "path".

The path describes how you would get from the main or root directory to the file. The main or root directory of a disk is designated with a backslash symbol (\). Therefore, the main or root drive directory is designated as C:\ and the A drive root directory is designated as A:\. Sometimes DOS lets you abbreviate.

So at times, you could designate the root C drive as simply C: and the root drive as simply A:, but until you understand how to use these abbreviations, it is much safer to use the actual names (A:\ or C:\) when referring to a directory.

The path traversed to get to NOTES.TXT is C:\_DAT.

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