A path with no redundant current directory (dot) elements, no redundant parent directory (dot-dot) elements, and no redundant directory-separators. The normal form for an empty path is an empty path. The normal form for a path ending in a directory-separator that is not the root directory has a current directory (dot) element appended. A path in normal form is said to be normalized. The process of obtaining a normalized path from a path that is not in normal form is called normalization. [ Note: The rule that appends a current directory (dot) element supports operating systems like OpenVMS that use different syntax for directory names and regular file names. — end note ]