theshell.ch/site/pages/fs/pwd.html

---
layout: page
category-page: fs
category-title: FileSystem
tags: working directory current position where
author: Mirko Ponzio
title: pwd
---

The command <code>pwd</code>(abbreviation of print working directory, it returns the
corrent directory) it is a command of the operation system Unix and Unix-like,
and in general of the systems POSIX, that show on the standard output the
absolute pathname on the corrent directory.<br>
Since a command line interface cannot provide graphic pictures of the file
system structure, it must have a different way of representing it.<br>
Think of the file system tree as a maze, and you are standing in it. At any
given moment, you are located in a single directory.<br>
Inside that directory, you can see its files and the pathway to its parent
directory and the pathways to the subdirectories of the directory in which you
are standing.<br>

The working directory is the directory where you are standing in. So for
knowing where you are, you must use the pwd command.<br><br>


<h3>Flags</h3>
<ul>
    <li> <b>-L</b>: Display the logical current working directory.</li>
    <li> <b>-P</b>: Display the physical current working directory (all symbolic links resolved).</li>
</ul>

If no options are specified, the -L option is assumed.