On a unix/linux file system you see the following: $ ls -la total 244 drwx------ 9 rcoops ddao2 4096 Feb 13 09:40 . drwxr-xr-x 39 root root 4096 Feb 11 13:23 .. -rw------- 1 rcoops ddao2 158310 Feb 13 09:40 .bash_history -rw-r--r-- 1 rcoops ddao2 24 Apr 25 2006 .bash_logout -rw-r--r-- 1 rcoops ddao2 1228 Sep 12 12:08 .bash_profile -rw-r--r-- 1 rcoops ddao2 169 Nov 20 17:12 .bashrc
On a windows file system you will see: H:\>dir Volume in drive H is rcoops$ Volume Serial Number is 2B01-1BEE Directory of H:\ 02/05/2008 04:38 PM <DIR> Desktop 01/30/2008 01:49 PM <DIR> My Documents 02/08/2008 10:28 AM <DIR> WINDOWS 12/04/2006 05:32 PM <DIR> Program Files On both file systems (on the command line) if you want to go one directory up you type: cd .. so the ../file.txt means from the current working directory (usually where your perl script is started from) go one directory up and access file.txt As for the ./file.txt this means as much as: in the current directory a file called file.txt if this is not found an error is thrown. If you type just file.txt your OS will look in the working directory and then look in the directories specified in the PATH environment variable. So it does nothing more then indicate to your OS which directory it needs to look. (I am sure there is a far more extensive and more precise way of explaining this but this is the simplest to understand and correct for most intents and purposes) I hope this helps a little bit. Rob On Feb 13, 2008 5:34 PM, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I've been going over some listings and I found code > > like the following: > > > > "./directory/file.txt" and > > "../directory/file.txt" > > > > but I've never seen the "./" and "../" things at the > > beginning of the path. I've tried to google these > > but had no luck. I've googled "file specification" and > > "directory specification" and got a lot of hits on stuff > > but nothing on what those symbols mean. So, I thought > > I'd ask here....so if you wouldn't mind explaining what > > they are to a newbie I'd appreciate it very much. Thank > > you. > > > > > Portions of this message may be confidential under an exemption to Ohio's > public records law or under a legal privilege. If you have received this > message in error or due to an unauthorized transmission or interception, > please delete all copies from your system without disclosing, copying, or > transmitting this message. >
