About Documents and Folders

Files and Directories

One of the most important ideas for a PC user to master is documents and folders. Although they are one of the most important and fundamental ideas in the personal computer, they are not the easiest things for everyone to understand.

(Windows 95 calls them documents and folders; previous versions DOS and Windows, calls 'documents' files or programs and 'folders' directories.)

DOCUMENTS (FILES): We store all information, keep permanently in the computer, in documents (files). (In Windows 95, even programs are called documents). A document (file) may contain a report, a spreadsheet, a graphical image, a program, or any number of other things. A good analogy is to think of a document (file) is as a piece of paper with information on it. The information can be anything; words, numbers, or instructions for the computer to execute.

DISKS: Disks are the physical devices on which the computer stores documents (files). Just as people use filing cabinets in which to store their papers, computers use disks to store documents (files).

FOLDERS (DIRECTORIES): As filing cabinets have drawers, computers have folders (directories) to keep track of documents (files). This way all documents (files) that have something in common are stored in the same place in a drawer or folder (directory). For instance, we could store all word-processing documents (files) in their own drawer/folder (directory) while they could store all spreadsheets in another drawer/folder (directory).

SUBFOLDERS (SUBDIRECTORIES): We can divide folders (directories) into subfolders (subdirectories). To continue the filing cabinet analogy, document cabinet drawers can contain folders (directories); folders (directories) can contain subfolders (subdirectories). The only difference is that we can continue the process of making subfolders (subdirectories) almost indefinitely. This feature allows the user to create almost any filing arrangement wanted. For example, a folder (directory) for word processing documents (files) could contain one subfolder (directory) for letters and another subfolder (directory) for reports.

USING DOCUMENTS AND FOLDERS (FILES)

Now that we have discussed the ideas of documents (files) and folders (directories), the user may ask, "How can I use these concepts?" Although there is no simple answer to this question there are several general rules to follow when using the PC.

THE FOLDER (DIRECTORY) STRUCTURE: Even before the user creates a folder (directory) on a disk one already exists. We call it the "ROOT" folder (directory). We can best describe it as the folder (directory) that owns all other folders (directories). We show folder (directory) names with a backslash (\) before them.

THE ROOT FOLDER (DIRECTORY): The root folder (directory) has no name, although the disk drive letter followed by a backslash (C:\) is used to represent it. The root folder (directory) is special; it contains many documents (files) that the computer's software looks for and expects to find there in order for the PC to work correctly.

FOLDER (DIRECTORY) NAMES: All folder (directory) names must conform to the DOS convention. In Windows 95, folder names can be from one to 255-characters long; in Windows 3.1, directory names can be from one to eight characters long. In practice, folder (directory) names represent the name of a group of functions or programs. For instance, we could name a folder (directory) containing the programs for MS Word as "MSWORD" and name a folder (directory) "UTILITY" that contains all of the utility programs.

IMPORTANT NOTE!

SUBFOLDERS (SUBDIRECTORIES): Folders (directories) can contain other folders (directories). The user can create subfolder (subdirectory) arrangements that are elaborate and practical. For instance, a user creates a folder (directory) called "TEXT" to hold all their documents (files). The user then creates one subfolder (subdirectory) called "LETTERS" for letters. Another subfolder (subdirectory) called "REPORTS" for reports. And yet another folder (directory) for the spreadsheet documents (files). Our "LETTERS" subfolder (subdirectory) can also contain subfolders (subdirectories) such as "MARY" or "BILL" for all correspondence to Mary and Bill.

DOCUMENT (FILE) NAMES: In Windows 95, document names can be from one to 255-characters long; in Windows 3.1, file names can be from one to eight characters long.

DOCUMENT EXTENSIONS: Documents may also have an extension of one to three characters. Some computer programs expect all data documents they read to have a predefined extension. For example, MS WORD expects all documents to have an extension of "DOC" (this is the MS WORD default extension); MS EXCEL expects "XLS" (the MS EXCEL default extension).

Unless you supply a different extension, the program will provide its default extension name. If you supply your own extension, you may need to take additional steps to open your document in the program.

		*File Cabinet Components*	*DOS Path Components*
		File cabinet	Physical hard drive or diskette drive (Root Folder/Directory) C:\
		Papers on the file cabinet	Document/File C:\LTR-1ST.DOC
		Drawer	Folder/Directory C:\TEXT
		Papers in the drawer	Document/FileC:\TEXT\LTR-2ND.DOC
		Folders in the drawer	Subfolder/Subdirectory C:\TEXT\MSWORD
		Papers in the folder	Document/File C:\TEXT\MSWORD\LTR-3RD.DOC
		Folders within a folder	Subfolder/Subdirectory C:\TEXT\MSWORD\NEWS
		Papers in the folder within a folder	Document/File C:\TEXT\MSWORD\NEWS\LTR-4TH.DOC