How to use path names for library filter?

Question

Hi all,
I have been looking for a way to use the library filter functionality to show only images in a particular folder (or subfolder thereof). From the help pages [http://help.adobe.com/en_US/Lightroom/3.0/Using/WSAB7B303E-081D-4617-BF47-B4B8D3D49CC3.htm l] I found that the image path is included when you filter using 'any searchable field'.
However, I do not seem to be able to use a full path name, just the individual directory names. To give an example, I can locate files in c:\data\photos using 'contains all: c data photos', but this will also select images in 'c:\data\someotherproject\photos'. I have tried all combinations of slashes and backslashes, but have found no solution to this problem. Does anyone know what the internal representation for the path name is, and if it's possible to search for it?
Just to pre-empt the obvious answer: I know that you can simply click on a folder to show its contents. However, using the filter bar would be a more permanent selection of a working directory, which remains when you click on a collection, for example.
Thanks.
Simon

Answer 1

Sorry, I could have been clearer.
What I'm trying to achieve is the following. My computer contains photos by myself, my wife and others, organised in three main folders. Having them in separate catalogs isn't convenient, because we often have photos of the same event (outings, holidays). However, most of the time I only want to work on my photos, and my wife wants to work on hers. A directory filter would be a good and fool-proof way of doing things. I am currently using a special keyword to do this, but I must remember to apply the correct keyword when importing.
Adding a folder as a favorite only works to select that folder in its entirety. What I would like to do is to have a 'master' folder selected and then use Lightroom as I normally would (select folders, collections, etc) Filtering by path name would enable me to do just that - and it does, except that there are false positives due to not being able to enter a full path name.
A smart collection has the same problem: the 'Folder' rule doesn't seem to support paths. And even if it did, it's not possible to select two collections with a logical 'and' operator, unless you make a new smart collection for each possibility.
My current keyword workaround is functional, but slightly error-prone. And in any case, if 'any searchable field' includes the file path, it stands to reason that there should be a way to match that with the entire path. The documentation isn't clear about this, so I hope that anyone can shed some light on this.