Network Path
Every node has a network path or path. The path is the location of an operator within the hierarchy of a TouchDesigner project. For example, /geo1/torus1, is a node called torus1 in a component called geo1. The path / is called Root or Home.
Example: The path of a node text1 is /project1/container1/button2/text1. All nodes in the path up the last node in a path are Components. That is, project1, container1 and button2 are all components.
If a path starts with /, it is an "absolute path".
If you refer to another node is in the same network, you can just put the node name: text1. This is a "relative path".
If you are in /project1/container1/button2, the "parent node" is /project1/container1. You can refer to another node in /project1/container1 using the ".." form: ../button3, where .. means "my parent". ../button3 is a "relative path".
Network path does not refer to location of a TouchDesigner file in the Windows file system. The network path of the currently selected operator is located at the top of every pane in TouchDesigner. The highest level of a TouchDesigner network is indicated by a ' / ' and is called the root of the network.
You can navigate up and down the network hierarchy by using the mouse's roller wheel, the Enter and "i" keys, or left-clicking on the network path at the top of the pane. Clicking on the lowest level of the current path will show a drop down list of available child Components that may be selected. To navigate up the hierarchy, use the roller wheel, the "u" key, or select the appropriate ' / ' in the path to navigate to that level.
Where you will find Paths
Operators often have a path parameter, like the Select TOP, which allows it to get an image from any network.
In exporting you will see the path to a parameter: transform/tx This is the tx parameter of a Transform TOP.
You may see an expression chop("wave1/chan1"), which is a channel in the wave1 CHOP.
You may see an expression par("transform1/tx"), which is the tx parameter of the transform1 node.
