about_Path_Syntax

Applies To: Windows PowerShell 2.0

TOPIC
    about_Path_Syntax

SHORT DESCRIPTION
    Describes the full and relative path name formats in Windows PowerShell.
 

LONG DESCRIPTION
    All items in a data store accessible through a Windows PowerShell provider 
    can be uniquely identified by their path names. A path name is a 
    combination of the item name, the container and subcontainers in which 
    the item is located, and the Windows PowerShell drive through which the 
    containers are accessed.


    In Windows PowerShell, path names are divided into one of two types: fully 
    qualified and relative. A fully qualified path name consists of all 
    elements that make up a path. The following syntax shows the elements in 
    a fully qualified path name:


        [<provider>::]<drive>:[\<container>[\<subcontainer>...]]\<item>


    The <provider> placeholder refers to the Windows PowerShell provider 
    through which you access the data store. For example, the FileSystem
    provider allows you to access the files and directories on your computer.
    This element of the syntax is optional and is never needed because the 
    drive names are unique across all providers.


    The <drive> placeholder refers to the Windows PowerShell drive that is 
    supported by a particular Windows PowerShell provider. In the case of the
    FileSystem provider, the Windows PowerShell drives map to the Windows 
    drives that are configured on your system. For example, if your system 
    includes an A: drive and a C: drive, the FileSystem provider creates the
    same drives in Windows PowerShell.


    After you have specified the drive, you must specify any containers and 
    subcontainers that contain the item. The containers must be specified 
    in the hierarchical order in which they exist in the data store. In 
    other words, you must start with the parent container, then the child 
    container in that parent container, and so on. In addition, each 
    container must be preceded by a backslash. (Note that Windows PowerShell
    allows you to use forward slashes for compatibility with other 
    powershells.)


    After the container and subcontainers have been specified, you must 
    provide the item name, preceded by a backslash. For example, the fully 
    qualified path name for the Shell.dll file in the C:\Windows\System32 
    directory is as follows:


        C:\Windows\System32\Shell.dll


    In this case, the drive through which the containers are accessed is 
    the C: drive, the top-level container is Windows, the subcontainer is
    System32 (located within the Windows container), and the item is Shell.dll.


    In some situations, you do not need to specify a fully qualified path 
    name and can instead use a relative path name. A relative path name is 
    based on the current working location. Windows PowerShell allows you to 
    identify an item based on its location relative to the current working
    location. You can specify relative path names by using special characters.
    The following table describes each of these characters and provides 
    examples of relative path names and fully qualified path names. The 
    examples in the table are based on the current working directory being 
    set to C:\Windows.


    Symbol Description                Relative path    Fully qualified path
    ------ -------------------------- ---------------- --------------------
    .      Current working location   .\System         c:\Windows\System
    ..     Parent of current working  ..\Program Files c:\Program Files
           location
    \      Drive root of current      \Program Files   c:\Program Files
           working location
    [none] No special characters      System           c:\Windows\System


    When using a path name in a command, you enter that name in the same 
    way whether you use a fully qualified path name or a relative one. For 
    example, suppose that your current working directory is C:\Windows. The 
    following Get-ChildItem command retrieves all items in the C:\Techdocs 
    directory:


        Get-ChildItem \techdocs


    The backslash indicates that the drive root of the current working 
    location should be used. Because the working directory is C:\Windows, 
    the drive root is the C: drive. Because the techdocs directory is located 
    off the root, you need to specify only the backslash.


    You can achieve the same results by using the following command:


        Get-ChildItem c:\techdocs


    Regardless of whether you use a fully qualified path name or a relative 
    path name, a path name is important not only because it locates an item 
    but also because it uniquely identifies the item even if that item 
    shares the same name as another item in a different container. 

    
    For instance, suppose that you have two files that are each named 
    Results.txt. The first file is in a directory named C:\Techdocs\Jan, 
    and the second file is in a directory named C:\Techdocs\Feb. The path 
    name for the first file (C:\Techdocs\Jan\Results.txt) and the path name 
    for the second file (C:\Techdocs\Feb\Results.txt) allow you to clearly 
    distinguish between the two files.


SEE ALSO
    about_Locations