4
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Could anyone explain the difference between ../ and ./ please.
../system
./system
My understanding is that ../ is the root directory.
But I don't know what ./means.
shinokada
Posted 2009-10-01T11:03:08.347
Reputation: 1 635
Path difference between ../ and ./
Answers
31
./ means the current directory
../ means the parent of the current directory, not the root directory
/ is the root directory
myfile.text is in the current directory, as is ./myfile.text
../myfile.text is one level above you and /myfile.text lives in your root directory.
Bob Kaufman
Posted 2009-10-01T11:03:08.347
Reputation: 501
6
. Current Directoy
.. Parent Directory
./system means, a directory/file called system in the current directory.
vpram86
Posted 2009-10-01T11:03:08.347
Reputation: 1 978
However, there would be little use preceding "system" with a "./" if it is a directory -- it's probably an executable. In UNIX/Linux systems, the current directory is not included in the search path for executables, so to run an executable in the current directory, you would preced it with "./" – aviraldg – 2009-10-01T11:11:10.377
4
The . and .. are relative directories to your current location.
The . is the current directory. eg "this". The .. is the previous directory. eg "this.parent".
Robin Day
Posted 2009-10-01T11:03:08.347
Reputation: 253
3
- . is the current directory
- .. is the parent directory of the current directory
... which means:
- ./system is the subdirectory or file called "system" of the current directory
- ../system is the subdirectory or file called "system" of the parent directory, which makes it a sibling of the current directory.
Tamas Czinege
Posted 2009-10-01T11:03:08.347
Reputation: 376
However, there would be little use preceding "system" with a "./" if it is a directory -- it's probably an executable. In UNIX/Linux systems, the current directory is not included in the search path for executables, so to run an executable in the current directory, you would preced it with "./" – aviraldg – 2009-10-01T11:10:07.710
Oh yeah it might be a regular file as well. – Tamas Czinege – 2009-10-01T11:11:17.973
1
../ is the directory above this one
./ is the current directory
Preet Sangha
Posted 2009-10-01T11:03:08.347
Reputation: 1 126
1
./ means the current directory.
aviraldg
Posted 2009-10-01T11:03:08.347
Reputation: 2 059
3To add more detail for future readers: ~/ is your home directory, and you can combine the operators above: ../../file would be a file two directories below. – Rich Bradshaw – 2010-01-18T11:20:03.990