Working directory

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The working directory of a process is the directory of a hierarchical file system, if any,^[1] which is implicitly used to determine the file referenced to by the process with a file name only, or with a relative path (as opposed to files referenced by full pathnames —see file name resolution). In most DOS and UNIX shells, as well as in Windows' command line interpreter, the working directory can be changed by using the cd or chdir commands. In UNIX, the pwd command outputs the absolute pathname of the current working directory; the equivalent command in DOS is cd without arguments (whereas in Unix, cd used without arguments takes the user back to his/her home directory). The POSIX function chdir(), where available, can be used to set the invoking process' working directory programmatically.

[edit] See also

• Home directory
• Root directory
• Parent directory
• Working Directory (wd), a software package that tracks commonly used directories in a bash session

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Operating systems exist that support a hierarchical file system but no concept of "working directory"; an example is Texas Instruments' DX10, used for the TI-990 series.