{{Short description|Default directory for file-system operations}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019|cs1-dates=y}} {{Use list-defined references|date=December 2021}} In computing, the '''working directory''' is the directory of a file system to which a relative path{{efn| such as a Unix path that does not begin with slash (/) or a Windows path that does not begin with backslash (\)}} is relative.
In a command-line environment, a user often uses files in or relative to the working directory. The system state that identifies the working directory provides a convenient way to define the context of work. Users can use paths that are conceptually simpler and usually shorter, instead of always using absolute paths. For example, for working directory <kbd>/home/user/data</kbd> on a Unix-like system, the file name <kbd>foo.txt</kbd> (a relative path) refers to absolute path <kbd>/home/user/data/foo.txt</kbd>. System state for working directory often also applies in a graphical user interface (GUI), but often is not useful since the GUI environment maintains directory context in a different way.
As a feature, working directories vary by environment yet have some common, typical attributes. Typically, each process has a separate working directory, which allows users to have a different working directory for each shell running on the operating system. Although common in systems that provide a hierarchical file system, the working directory feature is not required; for example, the DX10 operating system does not provide it, as all pathnames are either absolute or relative to the system volume.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://bitsavers.org/pdf/ti/990/dx10/0946250-9702D_DX10_Vol2_OperationsGuide_Sep82.pdf |title=DX10 Operating System Operations Guide |at=7.4 Using Pathnames |publisher=Texas Instruments |date=1982-09-01}}</ref>
Alternate names include '''current working directory (CWD)'''{{efn |as used in the command {{code |getcwd}}<ref name="getcwd"/>.}} and just '''current directory'''.<ref name="SetCurrentDirectory"/>
==Use== ; Change directory: Many shells provide a <code>cd</code> command for setting the working directory. Some systems provide a command with a different name. For example, {{code |chdir}} is an alternate name for {{code |cd}} in DOS/Windows.
; Report: Commands for reporting the working directory vary more than setting it. Typically, a Unix shell provides the command <code>pwd</code> (short for ''print working directory'') that reports the absolute path to the working directory. The equivalent command in DOS/Windows is <code>cd</code> without arguments. Using <code>cd</code> without arguments in Unix-like systems generally sets the working directory to the user's home directory.
; Scripting: To ease scripting development, some shells provide a variable that contains the working-directory path. Typically, a Unix-like shell provides an environment variable named <kbd>PWD</kbd>. Windows shells COMMAND.COM and cmd.exe provide a pseudo-environment variable named <kbd>CD</kbd>. Shells 4DOS, 4OS2, and 4NT provide <kbd>_CWD</kbd>, <kbd>_CWDS</kbd>, <kbd>_CWP</kbd>, and <kbd>_CWPS</kbd><ref name="4DOS_8.00_HELP"/>
; Windows shortcut: A Windows file shortcut can point to a working directory to be used when activating the shortcut's target.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/openspecs/windows_protocols/ms-shllink/17b69472-0f34-4bcf-b290-eccdb8de224b |title=2.4 StringData |work=[MS-SHLLINK]: Shell Link (.LNK) Binary File Format |publisher=Microsoft}}</ref>
; Command-line prompt: The working directory is displayed by the <kbd>$P</kbd><ref group="nb" name="NB_PROMPT"/> token of the DOS <code>prompt</code> command.<ref name="Caldera_1998_USER"/> To keep the prompt short in a deep directory, the DR-DOS 7.07 COMMAND.COM supports a <kbd>$W</kbd><ref group="nb" name="NB_PROMPT"/> token to display only the deepest subdirectory level. So, where a default <kbd>PROMPT $P$G</kbd> would result f.e. in <code>C:\DOS></code> or <code>C:\DOS\DRDOS></code>, a <kbd>PROMPT $N:$W$G</kbd> would instead yield <code>C:DOS></code> and <code>C:DRDOS></code>, respectively. A similar facility (using <kbd>$W</kbd> and <kbd>$w</kbd>) was added to 4DOS as well.<ref name="4DOS_8.00_HELP"/>
; State for each DOS drive: {{anchor|CDS}}Under DOS, the absolute path to the working directory for each logical volume is stored as the current directory structure (CDS). It is allocated at boot time with a slot for each logical drive (or as defined by LASTDRIVE).<ref name="Schulman_1994_Undocumented-DOS"/><ref name="Paul_1997_NWDOSTIP"/><ref name="Brown_2000_RBIL"/> This structure imposes a length-limit of 66 characters on the full path of each working directory, and thus implicitly also limits the maximum possible depth of subdirectories.<ref name="Schulman_1994_Undocumented-DOS"/>
: DOS Plus and older issues of DR DOS (up to DR DOS 6.0, with BDOS 6.7 in 1991) had no such limitation<ref name="Paul_1997_NWDOSTIP"/><ref name="Paul_1997_NWDOS7UN"/><ref name="4DOS_8.00_HELP"/> due to their implementations using DOS emulation on top of a Concurrent DOS- (and thus CP/M-86-)derived kernel, which internally organized subdirectories as ''relative'' links to parent directories instead of as ''absolute'' paths.<ref name="Paul_1997_NWDOSTIP"/><ref name="Paul_1997_NWDOS7UN"/> Since PalmDOS (with BDOS 7.0) and DR DOS 6.0 (1992 update with BDOS 7.1) and higher switched to use a CDS for maximum compatibility with DOS programs as well, they faced the same limitations as present in other DOSes.<ref name="Paul_1997_NWDOSTIP"/><ref name="Paul_1997_NWDOS7UN"/>
; High-level language access: Most programming-language environments provide an application programming interface to the file system for getting and setting the working directory.
: The POSIX-defined function <code>chdir()</code> (accessible via C and the many languages that interoperate with it) is a system call that changes the working directory.<ref name="OGBS"/> Its argument is a text string that is a path to the target directory, either absolute or relative to the existing value.
: Visual Basic provides the same functionality via a function with the same name.
: In Java, the working directory can be obtained via the <code>java.nio.file.Path</code> interface, or the <code>java.io.File</code> class. The working directory cannot be changed.<ref name="Sun"/>
==Examples==
COMMAND.COM in DR-DOS 7.02 and higher provides <code>ECHOS</code>, a variant of the <code>ECHO</code> command that omits the terminating linefeed.<ref name="Caldera_1998_NEW703"/><ref name="4DOS_8.00_HELP"/> This can be used to create a temporary batchjob storing the working directory in an environment variable like <kbd>CD</kbd> for later use. For example:
ECHOS SET CD=> SETCD.BAT CHDIR >> SETCD.BAT CALL SETCD.BAT DEL SETCD.BAT
Alternatively, under Multiuser DOS and DR-DOS 7.02 and higher, various internal and external commands support a parameter <kbd>/B</kbd> (for "Batch").<ref name="CCI_1997_HELP"/> This modifies the output of commands to become suitable for direct command-line input (when redirecting it into a batch file) or usage as a parameter for other commands (using it as input for another command). Where <kbd>CHDIR</kbd> would issue a directory path like <code>C:\DOS</code>, a command like <kbd>CHDIR /B</kbd> would issue <code>CHDIR C:\DOS</code> instead, so that <kbd>CHDIR /B > RETDIR.BAT</kbd> would create a temporary batchjob allowing returning to this directory later on.
==See also== * {{Annotated link |chroot}} * {{Annotated link |Home directory}} * {{Annotated link |Load drive}} * {{Annotated link |Long filename}} * {{Annotated link |Root directory}}
==Notes== {{notelist}} {{reflist|group="nb"|refs= <ref group="nb" name="NB_PROMPT">In the same way as <kbd>$O</kbd> works as alternative to <kbd>$P</kbd> under DR-DOS COMMAND.COM, <kbd>$W</kbd> has an alias <kbd>$Y</kbd> except for that it gets suppressed on floppies in order to avoid critical error messages or delays when trying to retrieve the path of a non-inserted floppy.</ref> }}
==References== <references>
<ref name="SetCurrentDirectory">{{cite web |title=Microsoft Windows – SetCurrentDirectory function |publisher=Microsoft |url=https://msdn.microsoft.com/de-de/library/windows/desktop/aa365530(v=vs.85).aspx |access-date=2017-05-27 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180527133642/https://msdn.microsoft.com/de-de/library/windows/desktop/aa365530(v=vs.85).aspx |archive-date=2018-05-27}}</ref> <ref name="OGBS">{{cite web |title=The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 6 and IEEE Std 1003.1 |date=2004 |edition=Issue 6, 2004 |orig-year=2001 |publisher=The IEEE and The Open Group |url=http://www.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/009695399/functions/chdir.html |access-date=2018-05-27 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180209195409/http://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/009695399/functions/chdir.html |archive-date=2018-02-09}}</ref> <ref name="Sun">{{cite web |title=JDK-4045688: Add chdir or equivalent notion of changing working directory |work=Bug Database |date=2008-08-18 |orig-year=1997-04-17 |publisher=Oracle (Sun Microsystems) |url=http://bugs.sun.com/bugdatabase/view_bug.do?bug_id=4045688 |access-date=2011-02-20 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019003430/http://bugs.java.com/bugdatabase/view_bug.do?bug_id=4045688 |archive-date=2017-10-19}}</ref> <ref name="Caldera_1998_USER">{{cite book |title=Caldera DR-DOS 7.02 User Guide |publisher=Caldera, Inc. |date=1998 |orig-year=1993, 1997 |url=http://www.drdos.net/documentation/usergeng/uglontoc.htm |access-date=2013-08-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104235434/http://www.drdos.net/documentation/usergeng/uglontoc.htm |archive-date=2016-11-04}}</ref> <ref name="CCI_1997_HELP">{{cite book |title=CCI Multiuser DOS 7.22 GOLD Online Documentation |id=HELP.HLP |date=1997-02-10 |publisher=Concurrent Controls, Inc. (CCI)}}</ref> <ref name="Caldera_1998_NEW703">{{cite book |title=DR-DOS 7.03 WHATSNEW.TXT — Changes from DR-DOS 7.02 to DR-DOS 7.03 |publisher=Caldera, Inc. |date=1998-12-24 |url=http://www.lookas.net/ftp/incoming/darbui/Justas/DRDOS/WHATSNEW.TXT |access-date=2019-04-08 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408142232/http://www.lookas.net/ftp/incoming/darbui/Justas/DRDOS/WHATSNEW.TXT |archive-date=2019-04-08}}</ref> <ref name="4DOS_8.00_HELP">{{cite book |title=4DOS 8.00 online help |title-link=4DOS 8.00 |author-first1=Hardin |author-last1=Brothers |author-first2=Tom |author-last2=Rawson |author-link2=Tom Rawson |author-first3=Rex C. |author-last3=Conn |author-link3=Rex C. Conn |author-first4=Matthias R. |author-last4=Paul |author-first5=Charles E. |author-last5=Dye |author-first6=Luchezar I. |author-last6=Georgiev |date=2002-02-27}}</ref> <ref name="Schulman_1994_Undocumented-DOS">{{cite book |author-first1=Andrew |author-last1=Schulman |author-first2=Ralf D. |author-last2=Brown |author-link2=Ralf D. Brown |author-first3=David |author-last3=Maxey |author-first4=Raymond J. |author-last4=Michels |author-first5=Jim |author-last5=Kyle |title=Undocumented DOS: A programmer's guide to reserved MS-DOS functions and data structures - expanded to include MS-DOS 6, Novell DOS and Windows 3.1 |publisher=Addison Wesley |edition=2 |date=1994 |orig-year=November 1993<!-- first printing --> |isbn=0-201-63287-X |id={{ISBN|978-0-201-63287-3}} |location=Reading, Massachusetts |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/undocumenteddosp00andr_0 }} (xviii+856+vi pages, 3.5-inch floppy) Errata: [https://web.archive.org/web/20190417215556/http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/user/ralf/pub/books/UndocumentedDOS/errata.ud2][https://web.archive.org/web/20190417212906/https://www.pcjs.org/pubs/pc/programming/Undocumented_DOS/#errata-2nd-edition]</ref> <ref name="Paul_1997_NWDOSTIP">{{cite book |title=NWDOS-TIPs — Tips & Tricks rund um Novell DOS 7, mit Blick auf undokumentierte Details, Bugs und Workarounds |series=MPDOSTIP |author-first=Matthias R. |author-last=Paul |date=1997-07-30 |orig-year=1994-05-01 |edition=3 |language=de |url=http://www.antonis.de/dos/dos-tuts/mpdostip/html/nwdostip.htm |access-date=2014-08-06 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170910194752/http://www.antonis.de/dos/dos-tuts/mpdostip/html/nwdostip.htm |archive-date=2017-09-10}} (NB. NWDOSTIP.TXT is a comprehensive work on Novell DOS 7 and OpenDOS 7.01, including the description of many undocumented features and internals. It is part of the author's yet larger <code>MPDOSTIP.ZIP</code><!-- still named TIPS_MP.ZIP between 1991 and 1996-11 --> collection maintained up to 2001 and distributed on many sites at the time. The provided link points to a HTML-converted older version of the <code>NWDOSTIP.TXT</code> file.) [https://web.archive.org/web/20190601152204/https://www.sac.sk/download/text/mpdostip.zip<!-- A yet older version 155 from 1997-05-13 of the 1997-07-15 distribution archive. -->]</ref> <ref name="Paul_1997_NWDOS7UN">{{cite book |title=NWDOS7UN.TXT — Zusammenfassung der dokumentierten und undokumentierten Fähigkeiten von Novell DOS 7 |series=MPDOSTIP |chapter=Chapter 1.3.xi: Überlange Pfade |author-first=Matthias R. |author-last=Paul |date=1997-06-07 |orig-year=April 1994 |language=de |url=http://www.antonis.de/dos/dos-tuts/mpdostip/html/nwdos7un.htm |access-date=2016-11-07 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161107122352/http://www.antonis.de/dos/dos-tuts/mpdostip/html/nwdos7un.htm |archive-date=2016-11-07}}</ref> <ref name="Brown_2000_RBIL">{{cite web |title=Ralf Brown's Interrupt List |editor-first1=Ralf D. |editor-last1=Brown |editor-link1=Ralf D. Brown |display-editors=etal |edition=61 |id=INTER61 |date=2000-07-16 |url=https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~ralf/files.html}}</ref> <ref name="getcwd">{{man|3|getcwd|FreeBSD||inline}}</ref>
</references>
==Further reading== * {{cite web |title=Why does each drive have its own current directory? |work=The New Old Thing |author-first=Raymond |author-last=Chen |author-link=Raymond Chen (Microsoft) |date=2010-10-11 |publisher=Microsoft |url=https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20101011-00/?p=12563/ |access-date=2017-05-27 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412192309/https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20101011-00/?p=12563/ |archive-date=2016-04-12}} * {{cite web |title=What are these strange =C: environment variables? |work=The New Old Thing |author-first=Raymond |author-last=Chen |author-link=Raymond Chen (Microsoft) |date=2010-05-06 |publisher=Microsoft |url=https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20100506-00/?p=14133/ |access-date=2017-05-27 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180527163745/https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20100506-00/?p=14133/ |archive-date=2018-05-27}}
==External links== * [https://github.com/karlin/working-directory Working Directory (wd) at Github]{{spaced ndash}} a software package that tracks commonly used directories in a bash session
Category:File system directories