--- /dev/null
+
+# find out the location where this script is running from. this will not
+# work properly in a bash script that is included via 'source' or '.'.
+# the first letter of each command is escaped to eliminate the danger of
+# personal aliases or functions disrupting the results.
+ORIGINATING_FOLDER="$( \cd "$(\dirname "$0")" && /bin/pwd )"
+
+# another slightly tighter version:
+export WORKDIR="$( \cd "$(\dirname "$0")" && \pwd )" # obtain the script's working directory.
+