Current directory

The most important environment for all tools is the current directory. The current directory is the base search directory where the tool starts to search for files (e.g., for the default .env or .hidefaults)

Normally, the current directory of a launched tool is determined by the operating system or by the program that launches another one (e.g., IDE, Make Utility, etc.).

For the UNIX operating system, the current directory for an executable is also the current directory from where the binary file has been started.

For MS Windows-based operating systems, the current directory definition is quite complex:

• If the tool is launched using the File Manager/ Explorer, the current directory is the location of the launched executable tool.
• If the tool is launched using an Icon on the Desktop, the current directory is the one specified and associated with the Icon in its properties.
• If the tool is launched by dragging a file on the icon of the executable tool on the desktop, the directory on the desktop is the current directory.
• If the tool is launched by another launching tool with its own current directory specification (e.g., an editor as IDE, a Make utility, etc.), the current directory is the one specified by the launching tool.
• When a local project file is loaded, the current directory is set to the directory which contains the local project file. Changing the current project file also changes the current directory if the other project file is in a different directory. Note that browsing for an assembly source file does not change the current directory.

To overwrite this behavior, the DEFAULTDIR: Default current directory system environment variable may be used.

The current directory is displayed among other information with the -V: Prints the Assembler version assembler option and in the About box.