Technical data

Table 2–2: File Specification Differences
OpenVMS
UNIX
Files are delimited in the following way:
• A colon (:) separates the device from
the directory.
• Square brackets ([ ]) or angle brackets
(< >) enclose the directory and any
subdirectories.
• A period (.) separates directories from
subdirectories and separates the file
namefromthefiletype.
• A semicolon (;) or period (.) separates
the file type from the version number.
The ODS-5 file system implements
extended file specifications and is a step
toward improving interoperability. ODS-5
is described later in this chapter.
For complete details about the ODS-5
file specification, refer to the OpenVMS
product documentation.
The slash (/) is the only delimiter that the
UNIX file specification format uses.
The first slash in a UNIX file specification
represents the root directory. Subsequent
slashes separate each element of the file
specification (the directories from the other
directories and the file name). In theory,
there is no limit to the number of directory
levels in a UNIX file specification.
OpenVMS file specification format
On a standard Files-11 On-Disk Structure Level 2 (ODS-2) volume, an
OpenVMS file specification has the following format:
device :[ directory . subdirectory ] filename . type ; version
UNIX file specification format
On a UNIX system, the file specification has the following format:
/
directory / subdirectory / filename
2.2.3 Absolute and Relative File Specifications
OpenVMS and UNIX both have two types of file specifications or pathnames:
absolute and relative. Table 2–3 describes the differences between the two
platforms.
Understanding OpenVMS and UNIX Implementations 2–5