Table of Contents

• Path
  • Windows vs. POSIX
  • path.basename(path[, ext])
  • path.delimiter
  • path.dirname(path)
  • path.extname(path)
  • path.format(pathObject)
  • path.isAbsolute(path)
  • path.join([...paths])
  • path.normalize(path)
  • path.parse(path)
  • path.posix
  • path.relative(from, to)
  • path.resolve([...paths])
  • path.sep
  • path.win32

Path#

Stability: 2 - Stable

The path module provides utilities for working with file and directory paths. It can be accessed using:

const path = require('path');

Windows vs. POSIX#

The default operation of the path module varies based on the operating system on which a Node.js application is running. Specifically, when running on a Windows operating system, the path module will assume that Windows-style paths are being used.

For example, using the path.basename() function with the Windows file path C:\temp\myfile.html, will yield different results when running on POSIX than when run on Windows:

On POSIX:

path.basename('C:\\temp\\myfile.html');
// Returns: 'C:\\temp\\myfile.html'

On Windows:

path.basename('C:\\temp\\myfile.html');
// Returns: 'myfile.html'

To achieve consistent results when working with Windows file paths on any operating system, use path.win32:

On POSIX and Windows:

path.win32.basename('C:\\temp\\myfile.html');
// Returns: 'myfile.html'

To achieve consistent results when working with POSIX file paths on any operating system, use path.posix:

On POSIX and Windows:

path.posix.basename('/tmp/myfile.html');
// Returns: 'myfile.html'

path.basename(path[, ext])#

• path <string>
• ext <string> An optional file extension
• Returns: <string>

The path.basename() methods returns the last portion of a path, similar to the Unix basename command. Trailing directory separators are ignored, see path.sep.

For example:

path.basename('/foo/bar/baz/asdf/quux.html')
// Returns: 'quux.html'

path.basename('/foo/bar/baz/asdf/quux.html', '.html')
// Returns: 'quux'

A TypeError is thrown if path is not a string or if ext is given and is not a string.

path.delimiter#

• <string>

Provides the platform-specific path delimiter:

• ; for Windows
• : for POSIX

For example, on POSIX:

console.log(process.env.PATH)
// Prints: '/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin'

process.env.PATH.split(path.delimiter)
// Returns: ['/usr/bin', '/bin', '/usr/sbin', '/sbin', '/usr/local/bin']

On Windows:

console.log(process.env.PATH)
// Prints: 'C:\Windows\system32;C:\Windows;C:\Program Files\node\'

process.env.PATH.split(path.delimiter)
// Returns: ['C:\\Windows\\system32', 'C:\\Windows', 'C:\\Program Files\\node\\']

path.dirname(path)#

• path <string>
• Returns: <string>

The path.dirname() method returns the directory name of a path, similar to the Unix dirname command. Trailing directory separators are ignored, see path.sep.

For example:

path.dirname('/foo/bar/baz/asdf/quux')
// Returns: '/foo/bar/baz/asdf'

A TypeError is thrown if path is not a string.

path.extname(path)#

• path <string>
• Returns: <string>

The path.extname() method returns the extension of the path, from the last occurrence of the . (period) character to end of string in the last portion of the path. If there is no . in the last portion of the path, or if the first character of the basename of path (see path.basename()) is ., then an empty string is returned.

For example:

path.extname('index.html')
// Returns: '.html'

path.extname('index.coffee.md')
// Returns: '.md'

path.extname('index.')
// Returns: '.'

path.extname('index')
// Returns: ''

path.extname('.index')
// Returns: ''

A TypeError is thrown if path is not a string.

path.format(pathObject)#

• pathObject <Object>
  • dir <string>
  • root <string>
  • base <string>
  • name <string>
  • ext <string>
• Returns: <string>

The path.format() method returns a path string from an object. This is the opposite of path.parse().

When providing properties to the pathObject remember that there are combinations where one property has priority over another:

• pathObject.root is ignored if pathObject.dir is provided
• pathObject.ext and pathObject.name are ignored if pathObject.base exists

For example, on POSIX:

// If `dir`, `root` and `base` are provided,
// `${dir}${path.sep}${base}`
// will be returned. `root` is ignored.
path.format({
  root: '/ignored',
  dir: '/home/user/dir',
  base: 'file.txt'
});
// Returns: '/home/user/dir/file.txt'

// `root` will be used if `dir` is not specified.
// If only `root` is provided or `dir` is equal to `root` then the
// platform separator will not be included. `ext` will be ignored.
path.format({
  root: '/',
  base: 'file.txt',
  ext: 'ignored'
});
// Returns: '/file.txt'

// `name` + `ext` will be used if `base` is not specified.
path.format({
  root: '/',
  name: 'file',
  ext: '.txt'
});
// Returns: '/file.txt'

On Windows:

path.format({
  dir: 'C:\\path\\dir',
  base: 'file.txt'
});
// Returns: 'C:\\path\\dir\\file.txt'

path.isAbsolute(path)#

• path <string>
• Returns: <boolean>

The path.isAbsolute() method determines if path is an absolute path.

If the given path is a zero-length string, false will be returned.

For example on POSIX:

path.isAbsolute('/foo/bar') // true
path.isAbsolute('/baz/..')  // true
path.isAbsolute('qux/')     // false
path.isAbsolute('.')        // false

On Windows:

path.isAbsolute('//server')    // true
path.isAbsolute('\\\\server')  // true
path.isAbsolute('C:/foo/..')   // true
path.isAbsolute('C:\\foo\\..') // true
path.isAbsolute('bar\\baz')    // false
path.isAbsolute('bar/baz')     // false
path.isAbsolute('.')           // false