Documentation

File and directory names are values of type String, whose precise meaning is operating system dependent. Files can be opened, yielding a handle which can then be used to operate on the contents of that file.

Combine two paths with a path separator. If the second path starts with a path separator or a drive letter, then it returns the second. The intention is that readFile (dir </> file) will access the same file as setCurrentDirectory dir; readFile file.

Posix:   "/directory" </> "file.ext" == "/directory/file.ext"
Windows: "/directory" </> "file.ext" == "/directory\\file.ext"
         "directory" </> "/file.ext" == "/file.ext"
Valid x => (takeDirectory x </> takeFileName x) `equalFilePath` x

Combined:

Posix:   "/" </> "test" == "/test"
Posix:   "home" </> "bob" == "home/bob"
Posix:   "x:" </> "foo" == "x:/foo"
Windows: "C:\\foo" </> "bar" == "C:\\foo\\bar"
Windows: "home" </> "bob" == "home\\bob"

Not combined:

Posix:   "home" </> "/bob" == "/bob"
Windows: "home" </> "C:\\bob" == "C:\\bob"

Not combined (tricky):

On Windows, if a filepath starts with a single slash, it is relative to the root of the current drive. In [1], this is (confusingly) referred to as an absolute path. The current behavior of </> is to never combine these forms.

Windows: "home" </> "/bob" == "/bob"
Windows: "home" </> "\\bob" == "\\bob"
Windows: "C:\\home" </> "\\bob" == "\\bob"

On Windows, from [1]: "If a file name begins with only a disk designator but not the backslash after the colon, it is interpreted as a relative path to the current directory on the drive with the specified letter." The current behavior of </> is to never combine these forms.

Windows: "D:\\foo" </> "C:bar" == "C:bar"
Windows: "C:\\foo" </> "C:bar" == "C:bar"

Contract a filename, based on a relative path. Note that the resulting path will never introduce .. paths, as the presence of symlinks means ../b may not reach a/b if it starts from a/c. For a worked example see this blog post.

The corresponding makeAbsolute function can be found in System.Directory.

         makeRelative "/directory" "/directory/file.ext" == "file.ext"
         Valid x => makeRelative (takeDirectory x) x `equalFilePath` takeFileName x
         makeRelative x x == "."
         Valid x y => equalFilePath x y || (isRelative x && makeRelative y x == x) || equalFilePath (y </> makeRelative y x) x
Windows: makeRelative "C:\\Home" "c:\\home\\bob" == "bob"
Windows: makeRelative "C:\\Home" "c:/home/bob" == "bob"
Windows: makeRelative "C:\\Home" "D:\\Home\\Bob" == "D:\\Home\\Bob"
Windows: makeRelative "C:\\Home" "C:Home\\Bob" == "C:Home\\Bob"
Windows: makeRelative "/Home" "/home/bob" == "bob"
Windows: makeRelative "/" "//" == "//"
Posix:   makeRelative "/Home" "/home/bob" == "/home/bob"
Posix:   makeRelative "/home/" "/home/bob/foo/bar" == "bob/foo/bar"
Posix:   makeRelative "/fred" "bob" == "bob"
Posix:   makeRelative "/file/test" "/file/test/fred" == "fred"
Posix:   makeRelative "/file/test" "/file/test/fred/" == "fred/"
Posix:   makeRelative "some/path" "some/path/a/b/c" == "a/b/c"

Remove any trailing path separators

dropTrailingPathSeparator "file/test/" == "file/test"
          dropTrailingPathSeparator "/" == "/"
Windows:  dropTrailingPathSeparator "\\" == "\\"
Posix:    not (hasTrailingPathSeparator (dropTrailingPathSeparator x)) || isDrive x

Normalise a file

• // outside of the drive can be made blank
• / -> pathSeparator
• ./ -> ""

Posix:   normalise "/file/\\test////" == "/file/\\test/"
Posix:   normalise "/file/./test" == "/file/test"
Posix:   normalise "/test/file/../bob/fred/" == "/test/file/../bob/fred/"
Posix:   normalise "../bob/fred/" == "../bob/fred/"
Posix:   normalise "./bob/fred/" == "bob/fred/"
Windows: normalise "c:\\file/bob\\" == "C:\\file\\bob\\"
Windows: normalise "c:\\" == "C:\\"
Windows: normalise "C:.\\" == "C:"
Windows: normalise "\\\\server\\test" == "\\\\server\\test"
Windows: normalise "//server/test" == "\\\\server\\test"
Windows: normalise "c:/file" == "C:\\file"
Windows: normalise "/file" == "\\file"
Windows: normalise "\\" == "\\"
Windows: normalise "/./" == "\\"
         normalise "." == "."
Posix:   normalise "./" == "./"
Posix:   normalise "./." == "./"
Posix:   normalise "/./" == "/"
Posix:   normalise "/" == "/"
Posix:   normalise "bob/fred/." == "bob/fred/"
Posix:   normalise "//home" == "/home"

not . isRelative

isAbsolute x == not (isRelative x)

Is a path relative, or is it fixed to the root?

Windows: isRelative "path\\test" == True
Windows: isRelative "c:\\test" == False
Windows: isRelative "c:test" == True
Windows: isRelative "c:\\" == False
Windows: isRelative "c:/" == False
Windows: isRelative "c:" == True
Windows: isRelative "\\\\foo" == False
Windows: isRelative "\\\\?\\foo" == False
Windows: isRelative "\\\\?\\UNC\\foo" == False
Windows: isRelative "/foo" == True
Windows: isRelative "\\foo" == True
Posix:   isRelative "test/path" == True
Posix:   isRelative "/test" == False
Posix:   isRelative "/" == False

According to [1]:

• "A UNC name of any format [is never relative]."
• "You cannot use the "\?" prefix with a relative path."

Take a FilePath and make it valid; does not change already valid FilePaths.

isValid (makeValid x)
isValid x ==> makeValid x == x
makeValid "" == "_"
makeValid "file\0name" == "file_name"
Windows: makeValid "c:\\already\\/valid" == "c:\\already\\/valid"
Windows: makeValid "c:\\test:of_test" == "c:\\test_of_test"
Windows: makeValid "test*" == "test_"
Windows: makeValid "c:\\test\\nul" == "c:\\test\\nul_"
Windows: makeValid "c:\\test\\prn.txt" == "c:\\test\\prn_.txt"
Windows: makeValid "c:\\test/prn.txt" == "c:\\test/prn_.txt"
Windows: makeValid "c:\\nul\\file" == "c:\\nul_\\file"
Windows: makeValid "\\\\\\foo" == "\\\\drive"
Windows: makeValid "\\\\?\\D:file" == "\\\\?\\D:\\file"
Windows: makeValid "nul .txt" == "nul _.txt"

Is a FilePath valid, i.e. could you create a file like it? This function checks for invalid names, and invalid characters, but does not check if length limits are exceeded, as these are typically filesystem dependent.

         isValid "" == False
         isValid "\0" == False
Posix:   isValid "/random_ path:*" == True
Posix:   isValid x == not (null x)
Windows: isValid "c:\\test" == True
Windows: isValid "c:\\test:of_test" == False
Windows: isValid "test*" == False
Windows: isValid "c:\\test\\nul" == False
Windows: isValid "c:\\test\\prn.txt" == False
Windows: isValid "c:\\nul\\file" == False
Windows: isValid "\\\\" == False
Windows: isValid "\\\\\\foo" == False
Windows: isValid "\\\\?\\D:file" == False
Windows: isValid "foo\tbar" == False
Windows: isValid "nul .txt" == False
Windows: isValid " nul.txt" == True

Equality of two FilePaths. If you call System.Directory.canonicalizePath first this has a much better chance of working. Note that this doesn't follow symlinks or DOSNAM~1s.

         x == y ==> equalFilePath x y
         normalise x == normalise y ==> equalFilePath x y
         equalFilePath "foo" "foo/"
         not (equalFilePath "foo" "/foo")
Posix:   not (equalFilePath "foo" "FOO")
Windows: equalFilePath "foo" "FOO"
Windows: not (equalFilePath "C:" "C:/")

Join path elements back together.

joinPath ["/","directory/","file.ext"] == "/directory/file.ext"
Valid x => joinPath (splitPath x) == x
joinPath [] == ""
Posix: joinPath ["test","file","path"] == "test/file/path"

Just as splitPath, but don't add the trailing slashes to each element.

         splitDirectories "/directory/file.ext" == ["/","directory","file.ext"]
         splitDirectories "test/file" == ["test","file"]
         splitDirectories "/test/file" == ["/","test","file"]
Windows: splitDirectories "C:\\test\\file" == ["C:\\", "test", "file"]
         Valid x => joinPath (splitDirectories x) `equalFilePath` x
         splitDirectories "" == []
Windows: splitDirectories "C:\\test\\\\\\file" == ["C:\\", "test", "file"]
         splitDirectories "/test///file" == ["/","test","file"]

Split a path by the directory separator.

splitPath "/directory/file.ext" == ["/","directory/","file.ext"]
concat (splitPath x) == x
splitPath "test//item/" == ["test//","item/"]
splitPath "test/item/file" == ["test/","item/","file"]
splitPath "" == []
Windows: splitPath "c:\\test\\path" == ["c:\\","test\\","path"]
Posix:   splitPath "/file/test" == ["/","file/","test"]

An alias for </>.

Set the directory, keeping the filename the same.

replaceDirectory "root/file.ext" "/directory/" == "/directory/file.ext"
Valid x => replaceDirectory x (takeDirectory x) `equalFilePath` x

Get the directory name, move up one level.

          takeDirectory "/directory/other.ext" == "/directory"
          takeDirectory x `isPrefixOf` x || takeDirectory x == "."
          takeDirectory "foo" == "."
          takeDirectory "/" == "/"
          takeDirectory "/foo" == "/"
          takeDirectory "/foo/bar/baz" == "/foo/bar"
          takeDirectory "/foo/bar/baz/" == "/foo/bar/baz"
          takeDirectory "foo/bar/baz" == "foo/bar"
Windows:  takeDirectory "foo\\bar" == "foo"
Windows:  takeDirectory "foo\\bar\\\\" == "foo\\bar"
Windows:  takeDirectory "C:\\" == "C:\\"

Add a trailing file path separator if one is not already present.

hasTrailingPathSeparator (addTrailingPathSeparator x)
hasTrailingPathSeparator x ==> addTrailingPathSeparator x == x
Posix:    addTrailingPathSeparator "test/rest" == "test/rest/"

Is an item either a directory or the last character a path separator?

hasTrailingPathSeparator "test" == False
hasTrailingPathSeparator "test/" == True

Set the base name.

replaceBaseName "/directory/other.ext" "file" == "/directory/file.ext"
replaceBaseName "file/test.txt" "bob" == "file/bob.txt"
replaceBaseName "fred" "bill" == "bill"
replaceBaseName "/dave/fred/bob.gz.tar" "new" == "/dave/fred/new.tar"
Valid x => replaceBaseName x (takeBaseName x) == x

Get the base name, without an extension or path.

takeBaseName "/directory/file.ext" == "file"
takeBaseName "file/test.txt" == "test"
takeBaseName "dave.ext" == "dave"
takeBaseName "" == ""
takeBaseName "test" == "test"
takeBaseName (addTrailingPathSeparator x) == ""
takeBaseName "file/file.tar.gz" == "file.tar"

Get the file name.

takeFileName "/directory/file.ext" == "file.ext"
takeFileName "test/" == ""
takeFileName x `isSuffixOf` x
takeFileName x == snd (splitFileName x)
Valid x => takeFileName (replaceFileName x "fred") == "fred"
Valid x => takeFileName (x </> "fred") == "fred"
Valid x => isRelative (takeFileName x)

Drop the filename. Unlike takeDirectory, this function will leave a trailing path separator on the directory.

dropFileName "/directory/file.ext" == "/directory/"
dropFileName x == fst (splitFileName x)

Set the filename.

replaceFileName "/directory/other.txt" "file.ext" == "/directory/file.ext"
Valid x => replaceFileName x (takeFileName x) == x

Split a filename into directory and file. </> is the inverse. The first component will often end with a trailing slash.

splitFileName "/directory/file.ext" == ("/directory/","file.ext")
Valid x => uncurry (</>) (splitFileName x) == x || fst (splitFileName x) == "./"
Valid x => isValid (fst (splitFileName x))
splitFileName "file/bob.txt" == ("file/", "bob.txt")
splitFileName "file/" == ("file/", "")
splitFileName "bob" == ("./", "bob")
Posix:   splitFileName "/" == ("/","")
Windows: splitFileName "c:" == ("c:","")

Is an element a drive

Posix:   isDrive "/" == True
Posix:   isDrive "/foo" == False
Windows: isDrive "C:\\" == True
Windows: isDrive "C:\\foo" == False
         isDrive "" == False

Does a path have a drive.

not (hasDrive x) == null (takeDrive x)
Posix:   hasDrive "/foo" == True
Windows: hasDrive "C:\\foo" == True
Windows: hasDrive "C:foo" == True
         hasDrive "foo" == False
         hasDrive "" == False

Delete the drive, if it exists.

dropDrive x == snd (splitDrive x)

Get the drive from a filepath.

takeDrive x == fst (splitDrive x)

Join a drive and the rest of the path.

Valid x => uncurry joinDrive (splitDrive x) == x
Windows: joinDrive "C:" "foo" == "C:foo"
Windows: joinDrive "C:\\" "bar" == "C:\\bar"
Windows: joinDrive "\\\\share" "foo" == "\\\\share\\foo"
Windows: joinDrive "/:" "foo" == "/:\\foo"

Split a path into a drive and a path. On Posix, / is a Drive.

uncurry (++) (splitDrive x) == x
Windows: splitDrive "file" == ("","file")
Windows: splitDrive "c:/file" == ("c:/","file")
Windows: splitDrive "c:\\file" == ("c:\\","file")
Windows: splitDrive "\\\\shared\\test" == ("\\\\shared\\","test")
Windows: splitDrive "\\\\shared" == ("\\\\shared","")
Windows: splitDrive "\\\\?\\UNC\\shared\\file" == ("\\\\?\\UNC\\shared\\","file")
Windows: splitDrive "\\\\?\\UNCshared\\file" == ("\\\\?\\","UNCshared\\file")
Windows: splitDrive "\\\\?\\d:\\file" == ("\\\\?\\d:\\","file")
Windows: splitDrive "/d" == ("","/d")
Posix:   splitDrive "/test" == ("/","test")
Posix:   splitDrive "//test" == ("//","test")
Posix:   splitDrive "test/file" == ("","test/file")
Posix:   splitDrive "file" == ("","file")

Replace all extensions of a file with a new extension. Note that replaceExtension and addExtension both work for adding multiple extensions, so only required when you need to drop all extensions first.

replaceExtensions "file.fred.bob" "txt" == "file.txt"
replaceExtensions "file.fred.bob" "tar.gz" == "file.tar.gz"

Drop the given extension from a FilePath, and the "." preceding it. Returns Nothing if the FilePath does not have the given extension, or Just and the part before the extension if it does.

This function can be more predictable than dropExtensions, especially if the filename might itself contain . characters.

stripExtension "hs.o" "foo.x.hs.o" == Just "foo.x"
stripExtension "hi.o" "foo.x.hs.o" == Nothing
dropExtension x == fromJust (stripExtension (takeExtension x) x)
dropExtensions x == fromJust (stripExtension (takeExtensions x) x)
stripExtension ".c.d" "a.b.c.d"  == Just "a.b"
stripExtension ".c.d" "a.b..c.d" == Just "a.b."
stripExtension "baz"  "foo.bar"  == Nothing
stripExtension "bar"  "foobar"   == Nothing
stripExtension ""     x          == Just x

Does the given filename have the specified extension?

"png" `isExtensionOf` "/directory/file.png" == True
".png" `isExtensionOf` "/directory/file.png" == True
".tar.gz" `isExtensionOf` "bar/foo.tar.gz" == True
"ar.gz" `isExtensionOf` "bar/foo.tar.gz" == False
"png" `isExtensionOf` "/directory/file.png.jpg" == False
"csv/table.csv" `isExtensionOf` "/data/csv/table.csv" == False

Remove the current extension and add another, equivalent to replaceExtension.

"/directory/path.txt" -<.> "ext" == "/directory/path.ext"
"/directory/path.txt" -<.> ".ext" == "/directory/path.ext"
"foo.o" -<.> "c" == "foo.c"

Get a list of FilePaths in the $PATH variable.

Take a string, split it on the searchPathSeparator character. Blank items are ignored on Windows, and converted to . on Posix. On Windows path elements are stripped of quotes.

Follows the recommendations in http://www.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/009695399/basedefs/xbd_chap08.html

Posix:   splitSearchPath "File1:File2:File3"  == ["File1","File2","File3"]
Posix:   splitSearchPath "File1::File2:File3" == ["File1",".","File2","File3"]
Windows: splitSearchPath "File1;File2;File3"  == ["File1","File2","File3"]
Windows: splitSearchPath "File1;;File2;File3" == ["File1","File2","File3"]
Windows: splitSearchPath "File1;\"File2\";File3" == ["File1","File2","File3"]

Is the character an extension character?

isExtSeparator a == (a == extSeparator)

File extension character

extSeparator == '.'

Is the character a file separator?

isSearchPathSeparator a == (a == searchPathSeparator)

The character that is used to separate the entries in the $PATH environment variable.

Windows: searchPathSeparator == ';'
Posix:   searchPathSeparator == ':'

Rather than using (== pathSeparator), use this. Test if something is a path separator.

isPathSeparator a == (a `elem` pathSeparators)

The list of all possible separators.

Windows: pathSeparators == ['\\', '/']
Posix:   pathSeparators == ['/']
pathSeparator `elem` pathSeparators

The character that separates directories. In the case where more than one character is possible, pathSeparator is the 'ideal' one.

Windows: pathSeparator == '\\'
Posix:   pathSeparator ==  '/'
isPathSeparator pathSeparator

Get all extensions.

takeExtensions "/directory/path.ext" == ".ext"
takeExtensions "file.tar.gz" == ".tar.gz"

Drop all extensions.

dropExtensions "/directory/path.ext" == "/directory/path"
dropExtensions "file.tar.gz" == "file"
not $ hasExtension $ dropExtensions x
not $ any isExtSeparator $ takeFileName $ dropExtensions x

Split on all extensions.

splitExtensions "/directory/path.ext" == ("/directory/path",".ext")
splitExtensions "file.tar.gz" == ("file",".tar.gz")
uncurry (++) (splitExtensions x) == x
Valid x => uncurry addExtension (splitExtensions x) == x
splitExtensions "file.tar.gz" == ("file",".tar.gz")

Does the given filename have an extension?

hasExtension "/directory/path.ext" == True
hasExtension "/directory/path" == False
null (takeExtension x) == not (hasExtension x)

Add an extension, even if there is already one there, equivalent to <.>.

addExtension "/directory/path" "ext" == "/directory/path.ext"
addExtension "file.txt" "bib" == "file.txt.bib"
addExtension "file." ".bib" == "file..bib"
addExtension "file" ".bib" == "file.bib"
addExtension "/" "x" == "/.x"
addExtension x "" == x
Valid x => takeFileName (addExtension (addTrailingPathSeparator x) "ext") == ".ext"
Windows: addExtension "\\\\share" ".txt" == "\\\\share\\.txt"

Remove last extension, and the "." preceding it.

dropExtension "/directory/path.ext" == "/directory/path"
dropExtension x == fst (splitExtension x)

Add an extension, even if there is already one there, equivalent to addExtension.

"/directory/path" <.> "ext" == "/directory/path.ext"
"/directory/path" <.> ".ext" == "/directory/path.ext"

Set the extension of a file, overwriting one if already present, equivalent to -<.>.

replaceExtension "/directory/path.txt" "ext" == "/directory/path.ext"
replaceExtension "/directory/path.txt" ".ext" == "/directory/path.ext"
replaceExtension "file.txt" ".bob" == "file.bob"
replaceExtension "file.txt" "bob" == "file.bob"
replaceExtension "file" ".bob" == "file.bob"
replaceExtension "file.txt" "" == "file"
replaceExtension "file.fred.bob" "txt" == "file.fred.txt"
replaceExtension x y == addExtension (dropExtension x) y

Get the extension of a file, returns "" for no extension, .ext otherwise.

takeExtension "/directory/path.ext" == ".ext"
takeExtension x == snd (splitExtension x)
Valid x => takeExtension (addExtension x "ext") == ".ext"
Valid x => takeExtension (replaceExtension x "ext") == ".ext"

Split on the extension. addExtension is the inverse.

splitExtension "/directory/path.ext" == ("/directory/path",".ext")
uncurry (++) (splitExtension x) == x
Valid x => uncurry addExtension (splitExtension x) == x
splitExtension "file.txt" == ("file",".txt")
splitExtension "file" == ("file","")
splitExtension "file/file.txt" == ("file/file",".txt")
splitExtension "file.txt/boris" == ("file.txt/boris","")
splitExtension "file.txt/boris.ext" == ("file.txt/boris",".ext")
splitExtension "file/path.txt.bob.fred" == ("file/path.txt.bob",".fred")
splitExtension "file/path.txt/" == ("file/path.txt/","")

Drop the first directory from a FilePath. Should only be used on relative paths.

dropDirectory1 "aaa/bbb" == "bbb"
dropDirectory1 "aaa/" == ""
dropDirectory1 "aaa" == ""
dropDirectory1 "" == ""

Take the first component of a FilePath. Should only be used on relative paths.

takeDirectory1 "aaa/bbb" == "aaa"
takeDirectory1 "aaa/" == "aaa"
takeDirectory1 "aaa" == "aaa"

Replace the first component of a FilePath. Should only be used on relative paths.

replaceDirectory1 "root/file.ext" "directory" == "directory/file.ext"
replaceDirectory1 "root/foo/bar/file.ext" "directory" == "directory/foo/bar/file.ext"

Make a path relative. Returns Nothing only when the given paths are on different drives. This will try the pure function makeRelative first. If that fails, the paths are canonicalised (removing any indirection and symlinks) and a relative path is derived from there.

> -- Given that "/root/a/" is not a symlink
> makeRelativeEx "/root/a/" "/root/b/file.out"
Just "../b/file.out"

> -- Given that "/root/c/" is a symlink to "/root/e/f/g/"
> makeRelativeEx "/root/c/" "/root/b/file.out"
Just "../../../b/file.out"

> -- On Windows
> makeRelativeEx "C:\\foo" "D:\\foo\\bar"
Nothing

Normalise a FilePath, applying the rules:

• All pathSeparators become pathSeparator (/ on Linux, \ on Windows)
• foo/bar/../baz becomes foo/baz (not universally true in the presence of symlinks)
• foo/./bar becomes foo/bar
• foo//bar becomes foo/bar

This function is not based on the normalise function from the filepath library, as that function is quite broken.

Convert to native path separators, namely \ on Windows.

Convert all path separators to /, even on Windows.

The extension of executables, "exe" on Windows and "" otherwise.