DIRECTORIES

    Because a disk can contain
hundreds or even thousands of files,
DOS has a directory system which
works like folders in a filing
cabinet, to help you keep track of
your programs and data.
   You can keep your games in one
directory, your accounting in
another, pictures in another and
sound files in yet another directory.
You can even nest directories so that
your 1992 records might be kept
separate from the 1993 records,
within your accounting directory.

    If you type DIR at the C prompt,
you will get a list of the files
only in the "root" directory.  There
may be many more files on the hard
disk, but they are temporarily
hidden from you in their own
directories.  When you type DIR to
get a listing of files, it also lists
directories. Example:

 Directory of D:\
COMMAND  COM     52925 03-10-93   6:00a
DOS          <DIR>     09-19-93   8:12a
WINDOWS      <DIR>     09-19-93   8:31a
KEYBDV   EXE      2886 07-07-86  12:00p
CONFIG   SYS       749 09-19-93   8:22a
AUTOEXEC BAT      1504 09-19-93   8:23a
MODEM        <DIR>     09-19-93  11:10a
IMAGES       <DIR>     09-19-93  11:12a
          4 file(s)    58085 bytes
                   130924544 bytes free

   To switch from one directory to
any other, type CD, a space, a
backslash, then the directory name.
CD stands for Change Directory. The
backslash identifies the name as a
directory name. Examples:

CD \GRAPHICS
CD \INCOME\1994

   The second example shows a nested
directory, \1994 is a sub-directory
of \INCOME.

    You must type out the full
pathname. If \1994 is a sub-directory
of \INCOME, you cannot type:

CD \1994

but must type:

CD \INCOME\1994

   To switch back to the root
directory, type:

CD \

The \ by itself means root directory.

   To create a new directory, type:
MD \ followed by any DOS-Legal name.
MD stands for Make Directory. A
directory name may contain up to 8
letters or numbers.  Optionally, it
can contain a "dot" (period) followed
by up to three more characters.  Most
punctuation marks will not work, but
underline and dash are ok. Examples:

MD \CHINA
MD \PAINT\PICTURES

    In order to create a nested
directory, the base directory must
exist first.  For example, in setting
up a new accounting system, you might
want a directory called:
\ACCOUNT\1995. First you must MD
\ACCOUNT, then you can make the
sub-directory: MD \ACCOUNT\1995.

   To remove a directory, type RD
followed by a space, a backslash and
the directory name.  Examples:

RD \CHINA
RD \PAINT\PICTURES

   You cannot remove a directory
until it is empty: all files must be
deleted, and if there are
sub-directories they must be removed
first.

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