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I'm trying to install a grunt template on my computer but I'm having issues. I realized that perhaps something different is happening because of the path given by the Grunt docs, which is

%USERPROFILE%\.grunt-init\

What does that . mean before grunt-init?

I've tried to do the whole import manually but it also isn't working

 git clone https://github.com/gruntjs/grunt-init-gruntfile.git "C:\Users\Imray\AppData\Roaming\npm\gru
nt-init\"

I get a message:

fatal: could not create work tree dir 'C:\Users\Imray\AppData\Roaming\npm\.grunt-init"'.: Invalid argument

Does it have to do with this /.? What does it mean?

Keith Thompson
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CodyBugstein
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  • `/.foo` refers to a file or folder named `.foo`. i don't think the `.` has anything to do with your problem. – Kevin B Jun 03 '15 at 21:21
  • What error(s) do you get? – donjuedo Jun 03 '15 at 21:23
  • Telling us it "isn't working" does no good unless you tell us *how* it isn't working. Please update your question with that information. If you're seeing error messages, please copy-and-paste them verbatim into your question. – Keith Thompson Jun 03 '15 at 21:25
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    This sounds like an [XY problem](http://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/66377/what-is-the-xy-problem). Maybe post a new question where you state the actual thing you are trying to do and what problem you are having – M.M Jun 03 '15 at 21:25
  • @KeithThompson I added the error message – CodyBugstein Jun 04 '15 at 14:54

5 Answers5

4

The \ (that's a backslash, not a slash) is a directory delimiter. The . is simply part of the directory name.

.grunt-init and grunt-init are two distinct names, both perfectly valid.

On Unix-like systems, file and directory names starting with . are hidden by default, which is why you'll often see such names for things like configuration files.

Keith Thompson
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1

The . is part of a directory name. Filenames can contain . . The \ is a separator between directory names.

Typically, files or directories starting with . are considered "hidden" and/or used for storing metadata. In particular, shell wildcard expansion skips over files that start with ..

For example if you wrote ls -d * then it would not show any files or directories beginning with . (including . and .., the current and parent directories).

M.M
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Linux hides files and directories whose names begin with dot, unless you use the a (for "all") option when listing directory contents. If this convention is not followed on Windows, your example is probably just a carryover.

It may well be something behind the scenes (later) expects that name to match exactly. While I like things, installers, for example, to just do what I said, I realize that keeping default value is the most tested path.

donjuedo
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Directories starting with a dot are invisible by default on xNIX systems. Typically used for configurations files and similar in a users home directory.

Erik Man
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\ before " has a special meaning on windows, the error is because windows won't let you create a file containing " as part of its name.

Jasen
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