What is a directory?

• In a Unix file system, a directory is basically a place where files live, that is, sort of a container for files.
• When you type the ls command, it shows you the files that are in your current working directory, but there are many other directories.
• A directory can contain files, but it can also contain other directories.
• Directories in a Unix file system are organized into a hierarchy, starting at the root directory.
• When you refer to a file in a command, that file is assumed to be in the current directory.
• You can refer to a file in some other directory by using its pathname.

Before we discuss pathnames, let's first look at the overall organization of Unix file systems.

John Shipman, john@nmt.edu Last updated: 1995/12/04 19:39:34 UT URL: http://www.nmt.edu/tcc/help/unix/whatdir.html