TS/MP 2.5 System Management Manual

Absolute Pathnames
Absolute pathnames must begin with a forward slash (/) and can have a maximum length of 1023
characters; the last character (character 1024) is reserved for a null.
When setting an OSS pathname using the SET SERVER CWD command or when setting a default
directory using the CMDCWD command, you must specify an absolute pathname.
Absolute pathnames specified for server process attributes are validated when the SET SERVER
command is processed.
Relative Pathnames
At process time, PATHCOM treats any OSS pathname that does not begin with a forward slash
(/) as a relative pathname and expands it to create an absolute pathname.
When expanding a relative pathname, PATHCOM adds a forward slash and attaches the OSS
directory specified in the SET SERVER CWD command. If no directory is set, the default set with
the CMDCWD command is used. If the value of the CWD attribute ends with a forward slash, then
PATHCOM does not add another one.
Relative pathnames specified for server process attributes are initially validated when the SET
SERVER command is processed; additional validation is performed during the execution of the
ADD SERVER and ALTER SERVER commands. An error message is generated at the time an ADD
SERVER or ALTER SERVER command is processed if either of these conditions apply:
• The expansion of a relative pathname results in an absolute pathname greater than the
maximum 1023 characters allowed.
• An expanded pathname has a forward slash as the final character.
CAUTION: NonStop TS/MP makes no changes to existing OSS path names. If escape sequences
or other nonprintable characters are included in a pathname, unexpected results might occur. HP
recommends that all characters in OSS path names be ASCII characters. One exception: to use a
dollar sign ($) in an OSS pathname, you must use an escape character because the OSS shell
treats $ as a special character.
132 Overview of PATHCOM