Command line questions

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I'm on page 572 "Directories: The CD Command"

I am not getting DOS to point to any directories, following MM's example, I type
C:\Temp

and I get this message:
'C:\Temp' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

Any ideas why it doesn't point me to the directory?

 

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in CMD you type CD TEMP

C:\TEMP is the "folder" you are in

 

I don't have the book in front of me - I'd have to wait until I get home - but the command to *change directory* to \temp would be

Code:

cd \temp

Harry.

 

Would it not simply be:

Code:

cd temp

Why the backslash Harry?

 

ok, it works! I can now change to any directory and list it's contents, stay tuned, thanks.

 

to indicate that it needs to start in root. how very x.

[edit] apologies to harry for cutting in line.

 

To expand a bit on d-Faktor's answer:

I said

. Note the backslash there to indicate that the temp directory exists in the root of the drive. Hence including it in the CD command.

Obviously if the temp directory was a subdirectory of where I was then the backslash shouldn't be used.

Harry.

 

now thats precise! i never thought of it that way

 

Well, that slash isn't even necessary in *nix. If you're in / and want to change to /home it is "cd home". If you're moving to a user's home directory from / it would be "cd home/username". You don't need an absolute path if the first directory you are moving to or beyond is a direct subdirectory.

Absolute paths are unnecessary in DOS under the same circumstances that they are unnecessary in *nix.

 

Generalizing further - a 'pathname' can be either absolute or relative.

Absolute would be \temp - you are describing where it is relative to root.

Relative would be things like 'temp' and ..\temp - you are describing where it is relative to where you are.

*nix is the same - just use / instead of \

Harry.

 

this is about efficiency, not necessity.

if you are in c:\folder1\subfolder\subfolder\subfolder, you can quickly go to c:\folder2 by using cd \folder2. sure, you can accomplish the same by doing a cd c:\folder2, but that can be inefficient if you need to dispose of drive letters in your script. or you can do a
cd \
cd folder2, which can be inefficient if you need to have a lot of these in a script.

and how did unix get into this discussion? i guess my x pun was misinterpreted. and i hate explaining jokes, so i'll leave just it at that.

 

LOL. Sorry, you know I'll work *nix into any discussion....

Actually, I thought you were referring to *nix with the 'x' you used....

 

2 questions:

1] When typing the names of the folder, is this case-sensitive?

2] When typing folders that have 2 or more words with spaces in between them do I now have to type the names of the folders [directories]with or without the spaces?

I am trying to work with the different methods above and I am not getting a consistent outcome which is why I am asking.

 

DOS is not case sensitive.

If the file names or folder names have spaces you have to put the entire path in double quotes.

 

Thanks, I am not getting the idea behind the "double quotes" though. Let's say I wish to change directory from
c:\temp

to a folder on my C drive with the name Music Tools, I can do this by typing
cd\music tools

how would I use double quotations to make this change?

 

Code:

cd "\Music Tools"

Harry.

 

works but I don't understand this, why is the backslash still there if you use a space after cd?

 

The backslash is to indicate that this is an absolute path. Without it you are assuming the folder is a subdirectory of where you are.

Harry.

 

Thanks, now I also know for the first time what an "absolute" path is .

Next, concerning using the space instead of the backslash, I am not getting this to work, if I am at
c:\windows

and wish to go to c:\temp without using the slash, how would I write this please?

 

As c:\temp and c:\windows are obviously both folders that reside on the root folder c:\ but neither are subfolders of the other, you must use the absolute path.