File Constructors

A File object is constructed by a program and used
while it is running to manipulate a disk file and to get information about it.
When a program finishes, the File object is no more,
but the file remains on disk (unless it has been deleted).
Here is one of the constructors for the class File:

File( String pathName  )      // Construct a File object for a file 
                              // with name pathName.

The path name of a file is a chain of directory names
followed by a file name.
The directory names are separated by a special character.
The syntax for directory names, separators, and
file names depends on the operating system.
Here is a path name for a MS Windows file:

C:\MyFiles\Programs\Examples\someFile.txt

The directory separator character (for MS Windows) is “\”.
The last part of the path name, following the last separator, is
the file name.
Here is a Unix path name:

/usr/frodo/Programs/Examples/someFile.txt

Path names are relative or absolute.
An absolute path name gives the complete chain of
directories from the root directory to the file.
A relative path name starts with any directory
in the chain and continues to the file.
Both relative and absolute path names may be
used with the File constructor.