The path name is the first item in each entry in a catalog file, and is required. The path may be a full path, or a relative path. MicroStation does not assume any system specific nomenclature, and accepts either the forward slash or the backslash as a directory separator character.

Indicate a relative path by prefixing the relative path with the sequence “./” or “.\”. Adoption of this convention insulates the code from the vagaries of various platforms. In all cases, a relative path is assumed to be relative to the directory in which the data catalog file resides. Similarly, a sequence of “../” or “..\” at the beginning of a path refers to the parent directory of the directory containing the geodetic datum catalog file.

Path names must include appropriate extensions. Extensions are used to determine the type of data file, and the appropriate algorithms to use in processing the data file. In the case of the US NADCON data files, where two files are actually referenced, use “.L?S” as the extension. If an extensions encountered that is unfamiliar or ambiguous, an error condition is generated.

Path names that require special characters, such as the pound sign, the comma, or the double quote character need to be enclosed in double quotes. Use two consecutive double quote characters to include a double quote in the actual path name.

Optionally, the path name may be followed by up to three positional arguments. Commas must be used to separate these arguments from the path name and each other. The three arguments are buffer size, flags, and density.