file access FAQ

[Steve Strassmann <straz@cambridge.apple.com>]

>Date: Thu, 19 Nov 92 08:40:28 -0600
>From: David Kieras <kieras@engin.umich.edu>
>To: info-mcl@cambridge.apple.com
>Subject: file access FAQ
>Cc: kieras@engin.umich.edu
>
>This should be an FAQ:  What's a good way to access files in
>different directories in MCL, in a way that will not require code
>changes to run in other CL implementations or on other  Macs, and
>allows some independence of the directory hierarchy?   

Use logical pathnames (see page 628 of CLtL2), which MCL 2.0 supports.

If you're using a CL that doesn't support them yet, try
Mark Kantrowitz's logical pathname utility, available by ftp from CMU
or on the MCL CD-ROM in "User Contributed Code:Defsystem:Logical Pathnames".