Relative file paths

Following standard Windows or DOS conventions, the specification of a file path can be an absolute (full) or a relative (partial) file path.

An absolute file path specifies a particular drive's root folder (the top-level folder or directory on that drive) as the starting point, e.g. C:\MyData\Examples\ASSAY.DAT

While this absolute path may make sense on a particular computer, the same path may be invalid an another computer (i.e. any computer that does not have a drive mapped as the 'C:' drive).

A relative file path specifies how to get to another file from the currently active (current) folder. In the application, the current folder is always the current project folder.

For example, if the absolute path of the current project folder is:

C:\MyData\Examples

then the location of a file (for example ASSAY.DAT) might be expressed in the following ways:

Relative file path	Description
ASSAY.DAT	The file exists in the current project folder (in which case no specification of a path is necessary).
Drillhole\ASSAY.DAT	The file is located in a subfolder which is "below" the current project folder (i.e. C:\MyData\Examples\Drillhole).
..\ASSAY.DAT	The file is located in a folder which is "higher up" or closer to the root folder (i.e. C:\MyData).

A relative file path does not begin with a drive letter or a backslash.