Path

The full path name for a file lists the whole route down the tree from the root to the document. For example, the full path to the file selected above is:

You can see that nesting your documents deeply in such a tree could add a lot of typing to your day!

If you are working under Windows in DOS mode and list the files in a directory (See DOS Commands), you may see a lot of directories and files with ~1 or similar at the end of the file name. This is what DOS does when it hits a long file name. It shortens it to 6 characters and then adds as the last two characters of the name part the tilde character and a number. Like this:

My Letter to Dad.doc becomes mylett~1.doc

My Letter to Mom.doc becomes mylett~2.doc

When saving your file, be careful not only about the name it's saved with but WHERE it is being saved, that is, in what folder or directory. Some programs have a default folder/directory that they use all the time unless you select a different one at the time you save the file. Others will automatically use the folder that was used the last time a file was saved. The more sophisticated programs allow you to choose which behavior you want or even change the default folder to one of your own. There are benefits to both schemes, but you need to be very much aware of what each program is doing.

Clicking on a toolbar icon to save may not tell you what just happened. You may need to use the File | Save or File | Save As menu command to get a dialog box so you can modify the standard behavior for that program. If you don't know what your program is doing, using the toolbar icon can result in "lost" files: "I know I saved it but I just can't find it!" Know your software!

Directories

If you don't want to use your program's default folders for storing documents created by that program, you can create folders of your own, with your own names, organized to suit the way you work. After all, they are YOUR documents! Let's look at how to do this under:

DOS (for emergencies) and Win95/98/XP.

Directory in DOS

Sometimes we get in trouble and our lovely graphical interfaces won't work. To handle some of these emergencies you need to work in DOS. So, to create a directory from the DOS command line you first need to know the full path that you want. Then to create a directory named mydrctry (my 8 character version of "my directory"), use the command for making a directory, which is md (It's nice to be obvious from time to time!)

The first line in the example creates the subdirectory mydrctry in the directory currently shown on the command line. In this case that is the root directory of the floppy drive. This is where you would want to save a file when the computer is not your own or you want to work on the file elsewhere.

The second command in the example creates a directory somewhere besides the directory on the command line, which show drive C in this case. You must give the full path to the new directory.

Remember the restrictions on legal names discussed in the previous lesson on Files. And only 8 characters in DOS for the directory name.

There are a number of other DOS commands that are useful, even under Win95/98/XP.

Folder in Win95/98/XP

To create a folder in Windows 95/98/XP you need to open a My Computer or Explorer window for the drive you want your new folder on. The illustration is for an Explorer window for Drive C.

Steps to Create Folder

1. Open the drive or folder for which you want your new folder to be a subfolder by double-clicking it. In My Computer you now have a window that displays the contents of the selected folder. In Explorer, as above, the right-hand pane will show that folder's contents.

2. From the File menu select New and then Folder.

Or right click in a blank area where the folder's contents is displayed. From the popup menu choose New and then Folder.

3. Name the folder When the icon for the new folder appears, it's name will be "New Folder" and it will be highlighted. You'll want to rename it something more helpful!

While you're here, check out the other file management commands that are available from the File menu and the right-click popup menu. You can rename, move, copy, and delete files and folders. You can drag and drop files and folders also.

If you use the right mouse button to drag, you'll see a popup menu of choices when you drop. This way you can choose whether to move, copy, or create a shortcut after you get there!

While you are looking around, don't start deleting and renaming stuff that you didn't create yourself! You can destroy your programs if you aren't careful!

Also be VERY CAREFUL with the Format command, which is available when you have a drive selected in My Computer or Explorer. You need it to prepare floppies but remember that you can erase your hard disk with this one!!! Choose your drives very, very carefully.