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<concept id="GUID-3CE3D01D-3EA1-5D44-B9DE-350F9E88F9C9" xml:lang="en"><title>Structure
of paths and filenames</title><shortdesc>This topic describes the structure of path and the components of
a filename.</shortdesc><prolog><metadata><keywords/></metadata></prolog><conbody>
<p>A full filename consists of four components:</p>
<ul>
<li id="GUID-FA2E4BB1-3228-5E88-8F78-0BF7EAB14E8B"><p>the drive: a single
letter followed by a colon.</p> </li>
<li id="GUID-E98DCE36-6BFA-57E4-A03F-8CAB1CE587D1"><p>the path, starting with
a backslash and ending with the final backslash in the name. The backslashes
divide the path into components.</p> </li>
<li id="GUID-32B125E6-9328-5AF0-AEBE-9D64CA801B61"><p>the file name: everything
from the character following the last backslash to the character preceding
the final dot.</p> </li>
<li id="GUID-33B61BC0-F53C-5D50-840A-1EB1B6015227"><p>the extension, which
consists of everything after the final dot.</p> </li>
</ul>
<p>In "8.3" filing systems such as FAT, the meanings of these components are
well understood. In non-8.3 systems, the mapping is straightforward, except
for the split of the final component of the name between filename and extension.
The rule is that anything following the final dot of this component is the
extension, anything preceding it is the filename. If there is no dot, or nothing
after the final dot, the entire component is the filename, and there is no
extension.</p>
<p>The following table shows some sample filenames and their component parts:</p>
<table id="GUID-395954AC-FB20-5AED-89B2-ADC20F99E435">
<tgroup cols="5"><colspec colname="col0"/><colspec colname="col1"/><colspec colname="col2"/><colspec colname="col3"/><colspec colname="col4"/>
<tbody>
<row>
<entry><p>Full name</p> </entry>
<entry><p>Drive</p> </entry>
<entry><p>Path</p> </entry>
<entry><p>Filename</p> </entry>
<entry><p>Extension</p> </entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry><p><filepath>d:\path\fn.ext</filepath> </p> </entry>
<entry><p><filepath>d:</filepath> </p> </entry>
<entry><p><filepath>\path\</filepath> </p> </entry>
<entry><p><filepath>fn</filepath> </p> </entry>
<entry><p><filepath>.ext</filepath> </p> </entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry><p><filepath>autoexec.bat</filepath> </p> </entry>
<entry/>
<entry/>
<entry><p><filepath>autoexec</filepath> </p> </entry>
<entry><p><filepath>.bat</filepath> </p> </entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry><p><filepath>c:\readme</filepath> </p> </entry>
<entry><p><filepath>c:</filepath> </p> </entry>
<entry><p>\</p> </entry>
<entry><p><filepath>readme</filepath> </p> </entry>
<entry/>
</row>
<row>
<entry><p><filepath>c:readme</filepath> </p> </entry>
<entry><p><filepath>c:</filepath> </p> </entry>
<entry/>
<entry><p><filepath>readme</filepath> </p> </entry>
<entry/>
</row>
<row>
<entry><p><filepath>.profile</filepath> </p> </entry>
<entry/>
<entry/>
<entry/>
<entry><p><filepath>.profile</filepath> </p> </entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry><p><filepath>..</filepath> </p> </entry>
<entry/>
<entry/>
<entry><p><filepath>..</filepath> </p> </entry>
<entry/>
</row>
</tbody>
</tgroup>
</table>
<p>Note that not all parts need be present. Note also that the directory navigators <filepath>..</filepath> and <filepath>.</filepath> are
not an intrinsic part of the file system model, and are not therefore supported
directly in names.</p>
<p>A directory is identified by a trailing slash: thus, <filepath>c:\wrd\</filepath> indicates
a directory, but <filepath>c:\wrd</filepath> indicates a file with no extension.
This mandatory requirement allows parsing to function without ambiguity, and
also without reference to any session with the file server.</p>
<p>The classes described here are used to handle all filename parsing requirements
in a uniform way. Because they handle the logic consistently, and because
this logic contains some subtle rules, you should always use them rather than
writing your own code.</p>
</conbody></concept>