path (redirected from working path)

path

(1) In communications, the route between any two nodes. Same as "line," "channel," "link" or "circuit."

(2) In database management, the route from one set of data to another, such as from customers to orders.

(3) A selected line or area in an image. See clipping path.

(4) The route to a file on a disk. The path shows the hierarchy of folders and subfolders (directories and subdirectories) starting at an origin point called the "root." The following examples show how the path is expressed on a command line in common operating systems.

Windows/DOS
In Windows and DOS, the path to the MYLIFE file located in the STORIES subfolder within the JOE folder on drive C: would be expressed as follows. Backslashes are used as separators.

            c:\joe\stories\mylife

Unix/Linux/Mac
The equivalent path in the Unix system follows. This is the same for Linux and the Mac, starting with Mac OS X. Unix knows which drive is used. Regular slashes (forward slashes) are used as separators.

            /joe/stories/mylife

Earlier Macs
Prior to the Unix-based Mac OS X operating system, the Mac could also use a path in certain command sequences. For example, with "hard disk" as the drive, the equivalent path was:

            hard disk:joe:stories:mylife

The Following Examples
For simplicity, the following examples come from earlier versions of this encyclopedia when the software was installed as a top-level folder directly under the C: drive. Subsequent versions are installed in the Program Files folder, one level down from the top.

Using Paths
Managing a computer requires a knowledge of paths, and there are numerous instances where they are used. For example, in the Windows version of this encyclopedia, there is a dialog box that displays the path to the location of the CDETEXT.TXT file. For more details on the Windows path and folder hierarchy, see Win Folder organization.

CDETEXT.TXT Path

This encyclopedia dialog box (File/CDETEXT.TXT path) shows where CDETEXT.TXT is created. The file is used to accumulate multiple definitions so they can be printed all at once. For example, you might use this dialog box to change the path to your word processing folder.

File/Folder Hierarchy

These Explorer views of the Encyclopedia folder (CDE) show how the PICTURES subfolder branches off the CDE folder. Just as pictures are kept separate, the lesson lists are also stored in their own subfolder. Note that the ADDRESS bar refers to the path.

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path

Computing the directions for reaching a particular file or directory, as traced hierarchically through each of the parent directories usually from the root; the file or directoryand all parent directories are separated from one another in the path by slashes

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path [path]

(computer science)

The logical sequence of instructions followed by a computer in carrying out a routine.

A series of physical or logical connections between records or segments in a database management system, generally involving the use of pointers.

(mathematics)

In a topological space, a path is a continuous curve joining two points.

In graph theory, a walk whose vertices are all distinct. Also known as simple path.

walk

(navigation)

A line connecting a series of points and constituting a proposed or traveled route.

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path

A footway; a footpath.

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1.	(networking)	path - A bang path or explicitly routed Internet address; a node-by-node specification of a link between two machines.
2.	(file system)	path - pathname.
3.	(operating system)	path - The list of directories the kernel (under Unix) or the command interpreter (under MS-DOS) searches for executables. It is stored as part of the environment in both operating systems. Other, similar constructs abound under Unix; the C preprocessor, for example, uses such a search path to locate "#include" files.