How do I create crossplatform file paths in Go?
FileIoDirectoryGoFile Problem Overview
I want to open a given file "directory/subdirectory/file.txt" in golang. What is the recommended way to express such a path in an OS agnostic way (ie backslashes in Windows, forward slashes in Mac and Linux)? Something like Python's os.path module?
File Solutions
Solution 1 - File
For creating and manipulating OS-specific paths directly use os.PathSeparator and the path/filepath package.
An alternative method is to always use '/' and the path package throughout your program. The path package uses '/' as path separator irrespective of the OS. Before opening or creating a file, convert the /-separated path into an OS-specific path string by calling filepath.FromSlash(path string). Paths returned by the OS can be converted to /-separated paths by calling filepath.ToSlash(path string).
Solution 2 - File
Use path/filepath instead of path. path is intended for forward slash-separated paths only (such as those used in URLs), while path/filepath manipulates paths across different operating systems.
Solution 3 - File
Based on the answer of @EvanShaw and [this blog][1] the following code was created:
package main
import (
"fmt"
"os"
"path/filepath"
)
func main() {
p := filepath.FromSlash("path/to/file")
fmt.Println("Path: " + p)
}
returns:
Path: path\to\file
on Windows. [1]: https://golangcode.com/cross-platform-file-paths/
Solution 4 - File
Go treats forward slashes (/) as the universal separator across all platforms [1]. "directory/subdirectory/file.txt" will be opened correctly regardless of the runtime operating system.