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The name of a file within a directory has the format filename.ext where the
required filename portion is up to eight characters in length and the
optional ext portion is up to three characters in length.  A period
character (.) separates the two names when the ext portion is present.

More than eight characters can be given in the filename.  DOS truncates the
name to eight characters when a longer filename is given.  This may lead to
erroneous results in some cases, since the files MYBIGDATAFILE and
MYBIGDATES both refer to the file MYBIGDAT.

The characters used in file names may be letters, digits as well as some
other characters documented in your DOS technical documentation.  Most
people restrict their file names to contain only letters and digits.
 Uppercase and lowercase letters are treated as being equivalent (file names
are case insensitive).  Thus, the files


     MYDATA.NEW
     mydata.new
     MyData.New

all refer to the same file.

You cannot use a DOS device name (such as  CON or  PRN, for example) for a
file name.  See the section DOS Devices for a list of these reserved names.

A complete file designation has the following format:


     drive:\path\filename.ext

where:

drive:
    is an optional disk drive specification.  If omitted, the default drive
    is used.  Some examples are:


         A:  (first disk drive)
         c:  (third disk drive)

\path\
    is the path specification for the directory containing the desired file.
     Some examples are:


         \mylib\
         \apps\payroll\

filename.ext
    is the name of the file.

Suppose that the current working directories are as follows:

A:
    \payroll

B:
    \           (root directory)

C:
    \source\c

and that the default disk drive is C:.  Then, the following file
designations will result in the indicated file references:

pgm.c
    C:\SOURCE\C\PGM.C

\basic.dat
    C:\BASIC.DAT

paypgm\outsep.c
    C:\SOURCE\C\PAYPGM\OUTSEP.C

b:data
    B:\DATA

a:employee
    A:\PAYROLL\EMPLOYEE

a:\deduct\yr1988
    A:\DEDUCT\YR1988