| **Navigation:**  [[introduction.htm|Language Reference]] > 13 - Built-in Functions >====== SHORTPATH (return short filename) ====== | [[settoday  set system date .htm|{{btn_prev_n.gif|Previous page}}]][[introduction.htm|{{btn_home_n.gif|Return to chapter overview}}]][[show  write to screen .htm|{{btn_next_n.gif|Next page}}]] |
|  ||

**SHORTPATH(** [ //longfilename// ] **)**

{{blk2blue.jpg|blk2blue.jpg}}

| **SHORTPATH** | Returns the fully-qualified short filename for a given long filename. |
| //longfilename// | A string constant, variable, or expression that specifies the long filename to convert. This may include the complete path. If omitted, SHORTPATH returns the current drive and directory in short name form. |

The **SHORTPATH** procedure returns the DOS standard short filename for a given //longfilename//. The file named as the parameter must exist on disk.** SHORTPATH **can now be used in expressions evaluated by the EVALUATE statements in runtime applications and in the templates.

{{notebox.jpg|NoteBox.jpg}}

If the 8.3 Name Creation on NTFS Partitions is disabled, SHORTPATH and PATH are equivalent.

**Return Data Type:     **STRING

**Example:**

**MyFile STRING(64)**

** CODE**

** MyFile = SHORTPATH('c:\program files\my text file.txt') !c:\progra~1\mytext~1.txt**

**See Also:**

[[setpath  change current drive and directory .htm|SETPATH]]

[[longpath  return long filename .htm|LONGPATH]]

[[path  return current directory .htm|PATH]]

[[directory  get file directory .htm|DIRECTORY]]

[[filedialoga extended file dialog .htm|FILEDIALOG]]