Pathnames

The nShell(tm) uses traditional Macintosh pathnames to identify files and directories.  In the Macintosh file system the path to a file may be specified as one long name.  Because Macintosh names often have spaces in them, nShell allows the quoting of pathnames.  The command:

	cat “my file”

would type a file called “my file” from your current directory onto the screen.  When you want to select a file on another disk, the name of the disk is added to the pathname.  The command:

	cat “my disk:my file”

would type a file called “my file” from “my disk”.  The “:” character is used to tell the Macintosh that you are specifying a path to a file, and not a file in the current directory.

If you wanted to identify a file in a specific directory on “my disk”, you would add the name of that directory to the pathname.  The command:

	cat “my disk:my folder:my file”

would type a file called “my file” from the directory “my folder” on “my disk”.  This is called a full pathname because it specifies every name from the disk name to the file name.

You can also specify pathnames relative to your current directory.  If you start a pathname with a “:”, the Macintosh knows that this path starts from your current directory.  The command:

	cat “:another folder:my file”

would type a file from “another folder” in your current directory.  Because some of this path is implied, it is called a partial pathname.

Another form of shorthand may be used with full or partial pathnames.  Using two “:”s in a pathname means "up one directory".  If your current directory is "my disk:my folder", the command:

	cat “::my file”

would move up from your current directory and type "my file" from “my disk”.

Testing Paths

The nShell includes a command called pathchk, which allows you to experiment with pathnames.  When given a pathname, pathchk attempts to print the equivalent full pathname.  For example, if your current directory is “Hard Disk:nShell” and you type the command:

	pathchk :bin

the response would be:

	Hard Disk:nShell:bin

The pathchk command does not change any files, and can safely be used to test pathnames before they are used.