CODEWITHSUNDEEP
dos
Ankur Sharma
Ankur Sharma

Reputation: 283

MS-DOS file/directory characteristics

Whenever we create any new file in MS-DOS then by default it creates directories like "." and "..". What are these directories and how is it helpful to the operating system? Also is there any way to delete them?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 787

Answers (2)

RB.
RB.

Reputation: 37222

The "." directory is a pointer to the directory it resides in.

The ".." directory is a pointer to the parent directory.

Examples

  • C:\Temp\.\SomeFolder\ is the same directory as C:\Temp\SomeFolder,
  • C:\Temp\..\SomeFolder\ is the same directory as C:\SomeFolder\.

EDIT

An absolute path in DOS is one which is "rooted" (i.e. it starts with the volume). An example will be 

volume
C:\someFolder\someFile.txt

A relative path is one which is dependent on the current directory. For example:

REM Change the directory to an absolute path
CD C:\Data\Movies

REM Now change the directory to "C:\Data\Music" using a relative path.
REM We are saying "The Music folder, inside the parent folder of C:\Data\Movies"
CD ..\Music

Upvotes: 2

Joakim Nohlgård
Joakim Nohlgård

Reputation: 1852

The . and .. directories are links to itself and its parent directory, respectively. It is not possible to delete them.

The purpose of the .. directory is so that you can navigate back to a directory's parent. The purpose of the . directory is to be able to refer to the current directory having to specify the entire name and path.

Upvotes: 2

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