[ Operating System | Reference Manual | Alphabetic Index ]

pathname(+FilePath, -Path, -BaseName, -Suffix)

Decomposes a filename into its directory path, base name and suffix
FilePath
String or atom.
Path
Variable or string.
BaseName
Variable or string.
Suffix
Variable or string.

Description

This predicate is used to decompose FilePath which is either a relative or absolute pathname of a file, into three components, namely the pathname of its parent directory including the trailing "/" if any, the `base' name of the file (the plain file name without the suffix), and the suffix, if any. The concatenation of Path, BaseName and Suffix yields the original filename FilePath.

Modes and Determinism

Exceptions

(4) instantiation fault
FilePath is not instantiated.
(5) type error
FilePath is neither a string nor an atom.
(5) type error
Path, BaseName or Suffix is neither a string nor a variable.

Examples

Success:

     [eclipse]: pathname("/home/user/userfile.pl", P, B, S).

     P = "/home/user/"
     B = "userfile"
     S = ".pl"
     yes.

      [eclipse]: pathname("/home/user/userfile", P, B, S).
      P = "/home/user/"
      B = "userfile"
      S = ""
      yes.

Fail:
      pathname("/home/file.pl","/home/","file", "pl").

Error:
      pathname(F,P,R,S).                 (Error 4).
      pathname("/home/file.pl",P,file,'.pl')    (Error 5).



See Also

pathname / 3, split_string / 4, join_string / 3, canonical_path_name / 2