View Source filename (stdlib v6.2)
Filename manipulation functions.
This module provides functions for analyzing and manipulating filenames. These
functions are designed so that the Erlang code can work on many different
platforms with different filename formats. With filename is meant all strings
that can be used to denote a file. The filename can be a short relative name
like foo.erl
, a long absolute name including a drive designator, a directory
name like D:\usr/local\bin\erl/lib\tools\foo.erl
, or any variations in
between.
In Windows, all functions return filenames with forward slashes only, even if
the arguments contain backslashes. To normalize a filename by removing redundant
directory separators, use join/1
.
The module supports raw filenames
in the way that if a binary is present, or the filename cannot be interpreted
according to the return value of file:native_name_encoding/0
, a raw filename
is also returned. For example, join/1
provided with a path
component that is a binary (and cannot be interpreted under the current native
filename encoding) results in a raw filename that is returned (the join
operation is performed of course). For more information about raw filenames, see
the file
module.
Note
Functionality in this module generally assumes valid input and does not necessarily fail on input that does not use a valid encoding, but may instead very likely produce invalid output.
File operations used to accept filenames containing null characters (integer value zero). This caused the name to be truncated and in some cases arguments to primitive operations to be mixed up. Filenames containing null characters inside the filename are now rejected and will cause primitive file operations to fail.
Warning
Currently null characters at the end of the filename will be accepted by primitive file operations. Such filenames are however still documented as invalid. The implementation will also change in the future and reject such filenames.
Summary
Functions
Converts a relative Filename
and returns an absolute name. No attempt is made
to create the shortest absolute name, as this can give incorrect results on file
systems that allow links.
Same as absname/1
, except that the directory to which the filename is to be
made relative is specified in argument Dir
.
Joins an absolute directory with a relative filename.
Equivalent to basedir(PathType, Application, #{}) or basedir(PathsType, Application, #{}).
Returns the last component of Filename
, or Filename
itself if it does not
contain any directory separators.
Returns the last component of Filename
with extension Ext
stripped.
Returns the directory part of Filename
.
Returns the file extension of Filename
, including the period. Returns an empty
string if no extension exists.
Converts a possibly deep list filename consisting of characters and atoms into the corresponding flat string filename.
Joins a list of filename Components
with directory separators. If one of the
elements of Components
includes an absolute path, such as "/xxx"
, the
preceding elements, if any, are removed from the result.
Joins two filename components with directory separators. Equivalent to
join([Name1, Name2])
.
Converts Path
to a form accepted by the command shell and native applications
on the current platform. On Windows, forward slashes are converted to backward
slashes. On all platforms, the name is normalized as done by join/1
.
Returns the path type, which is one of the following
Removes the filename extension.
Removes the filename extension Ext
from Filename
.
Returns a list whose elements are the path components of Filename
.
Types
-type basedir_path_type() :: user_cache | user_config | user_data | user_log.
-type basedir_paths_type() :: site_config | site_data.
Functions
-spec absname(Filename) -> file:filename_all() when Filename :: file:name_all().
Converts a relative Filename
and returns an absolute name. No attempt is made
to create the shortest absolute name, as this can give incorrect results on file
systems that allow links.
Unix examples:
1> pwd().
"/usr/local"
2> filename:absname("foo").
"/usr/local/foo"
3> filename:absname("../x").
"/usr/local/../x"
4> filename:absname("/").
"/"
Windows examples:
1> pwd().
"D:/usr/local"
2> filename:absname("foo").
"D:/usr/local/foo"
3> filename:absname("../x").
"D:/usr/local/../x"
4> filename:absname("/").
"D:/"
-spec absname(Filename, Dir) -> file:filename_all() when Filename :: file:name_all(), Dir :: file:name_all().
Same as absname/1
, except that the directory to which the filename is to be
made relative is specified in argument Dir
.
-spec absname_join(Dir, Filename) -> file:filename_all() when Dir :: file:name_all(), Filename :: file:name_all().
Joins an absolute directory with a relative filename.
Similar to join/2
, but on platforms with tight restrictions on raw filename length
and no support for symbolic links, leading parent directory components in Filename
are matched
against trailing directory components in Dir
so they can be removed from the
result - minimizing its length.
-spec basedir(PathType, Application) -> file:filename_all() when PathType :: basedir_path_type(), Application :: string() | binary(); (PathsType, Application) -> [file:filename_all()] when PathsType :: basedir_paths_type(), Application :: string() | binary().
Equivalent to basedir(PathType, Application, #{}) or basedir(PathsType, Application, #{}).
-spec basedir(PathType, Application, Opts) -> file:filename_all() when PathType :: basedir_path_type(), Application :: string() | binary(), Opts :: basedir_opts(); (PathsType, Application, Opts) -> [file:filename_all()] when PathsType :: basedir_paths_type(), Application :: string() | binary(), Opts :: basedir_opts().
Returns a suitable path, or paths, for a given type. If os
is not set in
Opts
the function will default to the native option, that is 'linux'
,
'darwin'
or 'windows'
, as understood by os:type/0
. Anything not recognized
as 'darwin'
or 'windows'
is interpreted as 'linux'
.
The options 'author'
and 'version'
are only used with 'windows'
option
mode.
user_cache
The path location is intended for transient data files on a local machine.
On Linux: Respects the os environment variable
XDG_CACHE_HOME
.1> filename:basedir(user_cache, "my_application", #{os=>linux}). "/home/otptest/.cache/my_application"
On Darwin:
1> filename:basedir(user_cache, "my_application", #{os=>darwin}). "/home/otptest/Library/Caches/my_application"
On Windows:
1> filename:basedir(user_cache, "My App"). "c:/Users/otptest/AppData/Local/My App/Cache" 2> filename:basedir(user_cache, "My App"). "c:/Users/otptest/AppData/Local/My App/Cache" 3> filename:basedir(user_cache, "My App", #{author=>"Erlang"}). "c:/Users/otptest/AppData/Local/Erlang/My App/Cache" 4> filename:basedir(user_cache, "My App", #{version=>"1.2"}). "c:/Users/otptest/AppData/Local/My App/1.2/Cache" 5> filename:basedir(user_cache, "My App", #{author=>"Erlang",version=>"1.2"}). "c:/Users/otptest/AppData/Local/Erlang/My App/1.2/Cache"
user_config
The path location is intended for persistent configuration files.
On Linux: Respects the os environment variable
XDG_CONFIG_HOME
.2> filename:basedir(user_config, "my_application", #{os=>linux}). "/home/otptest/.config/my_application"
On Darwin:
2> filename:basedir(user_config, "my_application", #{os=>darwin}). "/home/otptest/Library/Application Support/my_application"
On Windows:
1> filename:basedir(user_config, "My App"). "c:/Users/otptest/AppData/Roaming/My App" 2> filename:basedir(user_config, "My App", #{author=>"Erlang", version=>"1.2"}). "c:/Users/otptest/AppData/Roaming/Erlang/My App/1.2"
user_data
The path location is intended for persistent data files.
On Linux: Respects the os environment variable
XDG_DATA_HOME
.3> filename:basedir(user_data, "my_application", #{os=>linux}). "/home/otptest/.local/my_application"
On Darwin:
3> filename:basedir(user_data, "my_application", #{os=>darwin}). "/home/otptest/Library/Application Support/my_application"
On Windows:
8> filename:basedir(user_data, "My App"). "c:/Users/otptest/AppData/Local/My App" 9> filename:basedir(user_data, "My App",#{author=>"Erlang",version=>"1.2"}). "c:/Users/otptest/AppData/Local/Erlang/My App/1.2"
user_log
The path location is intended for transient log files on a local machine.
On Linux: Respects the os environment variable
XDG_CACHE_HOME
.4> filename:basedir(user_log, "my_application", #{os=>linux}). "/home/otptest/.cache/my_application/log"
On Darwin:
4> filename:basedir(user_log, "my_application", #{os=>darwin}). "/home/otptest/Library/Logs/my_application"
On Windows:
12> filename:basedir(user_log, "My App"). "c:/Users/otptest/AppData/Local/My App/Logs" 13> filename:basedir(user_log, "My App",#{author=>"Erlang",version=>"1.2"}). "c:/Users/otptest/AppData/Local/Erlang/My App/1.2/Logs"
site_config
On Linux: Respects the os environment variable
XDG_CONFIG_DIRS
.5> filename:basedir(site_config, "my_application", #{os=>linux}). ["/usr/local/share/my_application", "/usr/share/my_application"] 6> os:getenv("XDG_CONFIG_DIRS"). "/etc/xdg/xdg-ubuntu:/usr/share/upstart/xdg:/etc/xdg" 7> filename:basedir(site_config, "my_application", #{os=>linux}). ["/etc/xdg/xdg-ubuntu/my_application", "/usr/share/upstart/xdg/my_application", "/etc/xdg/my_application"] 8> os:unsetenv("XDG_CONFIG_DIRS"). true 9> filename:basedir(site_config, "my_application", #{os=>linux}). ["/etc/xdg/my_application"]
On Darwin:
5> filename:basedir(site_config, "my_application", #{os=>darwin}). ["/Library/Application Support/my_application"]
site_data
On Linux: Respects the os environment variable
XDG_DATA_DIRS
.10> os:getenv("XDG_DATA_DIRS"). "/usr/share/ubuntu:/usr/share/gnome:/usr/local/share/:/usr/share/" 11> filename:basedir(site_data, "my_application", #{os=>linux}). ["/usr/share/ubuntu/my_application", "/usr/share/gnome/my_application", "/usr/local/share/my_application", "/usr/share/my_application"] 12> os:unsetenv("XDG_DATA_DIRS"). true 13> filename:basedir(site_data, "my_application", #{os=>linux}). ["/usr/local/share/my_application", "/usr/share/my_application"]
On Darwin:
5> filename:basedir(site_data, "my_application", #{os=>darwin}). ["/Library/Application Support/my_application"]
-spec basename(Filename) -> file:filename_all() when Filename :: file:name_all().
Returns the last component of Filename
, or Filename
itself if it does not
contain any directory separators.
Examples:
5> filename:basename("foo").
"foo"
6> filename:basename("/usr/foo").
"foo"
7> filename:basename("/").
[]
-spec basename(Filename, Ext) -> file:filename_all() when Filename :: file:name_all(), Ext :: file:name_all().
Returns the last component of Filename
with extension Ext
stripped.
This function is to be used to remove a (possible) specific extension.
To remove an existing extension when you are unsure which one it is, use
rootname(basename(Filename))
.
Examples:
8> filename:basename("~/src/kalle.erl", ".erl").
"kalle"
9> filename:basename("~/src/kalle.beam", ".erl").
"kalle.beam"
10> filename:basename("~/src/kalle.old.erl", ".erl").
"kalle.old"
11> filename:rootname(filename:basename("~/src/kalle.erl")).
"kalle"
12> filename:rootname(filename:basename("~/src/kalle.beam")).
"kalle"
-spec dirname(Filename) -> file:filename_all() when Filename :: file:name_all().
Returns the directory part of Filename
.
Examples:
13> filename:dirname("/usr/src/kalle.erl").
"/usr/src"
14> filename:dirname("kalle.erl").
"."
5> filename:dirname("\\usr\\src/kalle.erl"). % Windows
"/usr/src"
-spec extension(Filename) -> file:filename_all() when Filename :: file:name_all().
Returns the file extension of Filename
, including the period. Returns an empty
string if no extension exists.
Examples:
15> filename:extension("foo.erl").
".erl"
16> filename:extension("beam.src/kalle").
[]
-spec flatten(Filename) -> file:filename_all() when Filename :: file:name_all().
Converts a possibly deep list filename consisting of characters and atoms into the corresponding flat string filename.
-spec join(Components) -> file:filename_all() when Components :: [file:name_all()].
Joins a list of filename Components
with directory separators. If one of the
elements of Components
includes an absolute path, such as "/xxx"
, the
preceding elements, if any, are removed from the result.
The result is "normalized":
- Redundant directory separators are removed.
- In Windows, all directory separators are forward slashes and the drive letter is in lower case.
Examples:
17> filename:join(["/usr", "local", "bin"]).
"/usr/local/bin"
18> filename:join(["a/b///c/"]).
"a/b/c"
6> filename:join(["B:a\\b///c/"]). % Windows
"b:a/b/c"
-spec join(Name1, Name2) -> file:filename_all() when Name1 :: file:name_all(), Name2 :: file:name_all().
Joins two filename components with directory separators. Equivalent to
join([Name1, Name2])
.
-spec nativename(Path) -> file:filename_all() when Path :: file:name_all().
Converts Path
to a form accepted by the command shell and native applications
on the current platform. On Windows, forward slashes are converted to backward
slashes. On all platforms, the name is normalized as done by join/1
.
Examples:
19> filename:nativename("/usr/local/bin/"). % Unix
"/usr/local/bin"
7> filename:nativename("/usr/local/bin/"). % Windows
"\\usr\\local\\bin"
-spec pathtype(Path) -> absolute | relative | volumerelative when Path :: file:name_all().
Returns the path type, which is one of the following:
absolute
- The path name refers to a specific file on a specific volume.Unix example:
/usr/local/bin
Windows example:
D:/usr/local/bin
relative
- The path name is relative to the current working directory on the current volume.Example:
foo/bar, ../src
volumerelative
- The path name is relative to the current working directory on a specified volume, or it is a specific file on the current working volume.Windows example:
D:bar.erl, /bar/foo.erl
-spec rootname(Filename) -> file:filename_all() when Filename :: file:name_all().
Removes the filename extension.
Examples:
1> filename:rootname("/beam.src/kalle").
"/beam.src/kalle"
2> filename:rootname("/beam.src/foo.erl").
"/beam.src/foo"
-spec rootname(Filename, Ext) -> file:filename_all() when Filename :: file:name_all(), Ext :: file:name_all().
Removes the filename extension Ext
from Filename
.
Examples:
1> filename:rootname("/beam.src/foo.erl", ".erl").
"/beam.src/foo"
2> filename:rootname("/beam.src/foo.beam", ".erl").
"/beam.src/foo.beam"
-spec split(Filename) -> Components when Filename :: file:name_all(), Components :: [file:name_all()].
Returns a list whose elements are the path components of Filename
.
Examples:
24> filename:split("/usr/local/bin").
["/","usr","local","bin"]
25> filename:split("foo/bar").
["foo","bar"]
26> filename:split("a:\\msdev\\include").
["a:/","msdev","include"]