Get parent directory in Python

Question

Hi,

Could someone tell me how to get the parent directory of a path in Python in a cross platform way. E.g.

C:\Program Files ---> C:\

and

C:\ ---> C:\

If the directory doesn't have a parent directory, it returns the directory itself. The question might seem simple but I couldn't dig it up through Google.

Thanks.

Answer 1

os.path.abspath(os.path.join(somepath, '..'))

Observe:

import posixpath
import ntpath

print ntpath.abspath(ntpath.join('C:\\', '..'))
print ntpath.abspath(ntpath.join('C:\\foo', '..'))
print posixpath.abspath(posixpath.join('/', '..'))
print posixpath.abspath(posixpath.join('/home', '..'))

Answer 2

os.path.split(os.path.abspath(dir))[0]

Answer 3

Try this:

import os.path
print os.path.abspath(os.path.join(yourpath, '..'))

where yourpath is the path you want the parent for.

Answer 4

import os
p = os.path.abspath('..')

C:\Program Files ---> C:\\

C:\ ---> C:\\

Answer 5

os.path.dirname

>>> os.path.dirname(r'C:\Program Files')
'C:\\'
>>> os.path.dirname('C:\\')
'C:\\'
>>>