What is the difference between _dir and _path and http_ options in Compass Configuration Properties?

Question

The description of Configuration Properties of Compass is very vague and ambiguous (http://compass-style.org/help/documentation/configuration-reference/). Absolutely not clear and no any additional explanation or examples. Here they are:

What is the difference between these?

css_dir - ...where the css stylesheets are kept
css_path - ...where css stylesheets are kept
http_stylesheets_path - ...http path to stylesheets on the web server

And these?

sass_dir - ...where the sass stylesheets are kept
sass_path - ...where sass stylesheets are kept

This is extremely not understandable. What do they mean? They are all the same:

images_dir - ...where the images are kept
images_path - ...where images are kept
generated_images_dir - ...where generated images are kept
generated_images_path - ...where generated images are kept
http_generated_images_path - ...generated images on the web server

Same thing here:

fonts_dir - ...where the font files are kept
fonts_path - ...where font files are kept
http_fonts_path - ...http path to font files on the web server
http_fonts_dir - ...http path to font files on the web server

How to understand what is the difference from one another?

score -2 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 24 '15 at 12:06

It helps to read the entire description of each setting and the settings they reference.

Path is expected to be the full/absolute path to that item, while dir is expected to be relative to something else.

project_path

Not needed in :stand_alone mode where it can be inferred by context. Sets the path to the root of the project.

This is the absolute path to your project on the filesystem.

http_path

The path to the project when running within the web server. Defaults to "/"

This is the absolute path to your project as seen from the web.

css_dir

The directory where the css stylesheets are kept. It is relative to the project_path. Defaults to "stylesheets".

css_path

The full path to where css stylesheets are kept. Defaults to <project_path>/<css_dir>.

http_stylesheets_path

The full http path to stylesheets on the web server. Defaults to http_path + "/" + css_dir.