The Dash is meant to be a quick way of opening files, just start typing
in the name of the file and relevant files / folders with that name
will be shown. When the file you want is visible, click on it to open
and if it's a document then the path will be shown in the top bar.
Music and video files will launch in their respective programs but in
there you'll be able to find the location of the file playing.

Is that any help or are you wanting just just find where stuff is
without opening ?

A couple of things to note. The file manager, Nautilus, has been dumbed
down in recent months and it is hard for many established users to use. It
has gone so minimalistic as to make it useless for many users. Linux Mint
has decided to fork it because it is so terrible.
www.omgubuntu.co.uk/.../linux-mint-explain-nautilus-fork-call-new-ver\
sion-a-catastrophe

The second thing is that files in Linux are case sensitive so you need to
know the exact name. myfile.nfo is a different file from Myfile.nfo. That
can give you fits till you get used to it. Windows style wild cards work in
Linux, too.

See:http://www.linfo.org/wildcard.html

Another thing that be troublesome for noobs is permissions. Linux will not
let you access a file belonging to someone else. If you move a file as root
then root has ownership and not the user, so you need to change permissions
as root to to the user to get access to it. Finally there is the issue of
hidden files. A file can be hidden by adding a dot before the file name and
if it is hidden then you need to turn that function on in Nautilus first
(Ctrl+H). This is mostly the case for settings files. Since I do not know
if it is a setting file or not I am including that tid bit.

BTW the file folder at the top of the Launcher also opens Nautilus. You can
also search for files using the scopes at the side when you click on Dash
and lenses in the middle and bottom. They act as sources for information
and filters. For example you could have a Flickr scope and lenses for
various types of pictures. Unity can be confusing at first, but it is
very customizable and very powerful. People underestimate it.

Lenses and scopes are explained here:
developer.ubuntu.com/.../

Also see:
askubuntu.com/.../what-lenses-for-unity-are-available

Thia is interesting, but doesn't answer my question: How do you find out what
directory myfil.foo is?

I don't know if it is your thing, but running "slocate myfil.foo" from a
terminal emulator is how I would do it. "slocate -u" may need to be run
first to update the database if it is not handled automatically (But it
should be the same database that nautilus uses, I think). *disclaimer*:
I'm frozen back on Ubuntu 10.04, but I'd be really surprised if that
program is not present in whatever the newest version is.

Once you find the file, right click and click on Properties to see the full
path.

In Unity a left or right click opens the file so that option isn't
possible any more. Suspect that the way around it is to install an
alternative file manager that does searches in the 'old way'. Maybe
Dolphin, the KDE one ?

FWIW this is one reason I felt Unity wasn't for me even though I love
the simplicity for less demanding users and I have several customers
using it without problem. My needs were more than Unity could offer.

Not sure this is right, it depends quite where we are in all this.

The original poster typed "file" in the dash which apparently opens something
called file manager. That's not familiar to me, but I and seemingly other
respondents in the thread have assumed it means Nautilus. Certainly the search
facility in Nautilus matches the OP's complaint, that it doesn't make it easy to
find out where the file is. And certainly a right-click in Nautilus will help,
once you select Properties.

But it ought to be a lot simpler. I realise manufacturers are trying to shift us
away from worrying about where files are stored, but for those of us who have
long been familiar with the concept it's scary.

Scary? Indeed. They want a clean interface and to un-complicate the OS, but
usability is suffering. File Manager in Unity is Nautilus. Ubuntu is on a
campaign to distance themselves from traditional Linux names. They are
getting away from using the word Linux and anything GNOME which is fine. It
is open source so the licensing permits this.

I just use the find command in a terminal, works every
time. No I won't bore you here with the command a private email will if
anyone is interested.

That is the problem I spoke about being dumbed down. Previous versions had
a location bar and the ability to right-click and get information about
location. This is not an Ubuntu or Unity issue, but a GNOME problem. They
are the developers of Nautilus. It has got to the point where Ubuntu 12.10
is going with an older version and Linux Mint is forking Nautilus and GNOME
developers are speaking out about the project failing.

None of this helps you. It just explains why we are in this sorry state.
Easy solution is to install Dolphin, the KDE file manager. Launch Dolphin
and it has a location bar (turned off by default, but can be activated) and
a status bar filter that is to die for. Dolphin is superior to any Linux
file manager by a mile, IME.

sudo apt-get install dolphin (in a terminal) or search for it in Software
Centre and install.

Then Launch Dolphin from the Dash by typing dolphin. It will come up after
a couple of letters. Click on the wrench in the upper right of Dolphin to
customise. It is mostly ticking boxes. At the bottom tick show menubar.
Under Location bar tick Editable location and under Tools tick Show Filter
bar. To Search click the Find icon at the top. Type what you are searching
for; wildcards are okay. It will show the matches and you unfortunately
lose the location bar when you search across folders, but if you right
click on the file it will show the full path in Properties under the
General tab.