How to get relative path from absolute path

Question

There's a part in my apps that display the file path loaded by the user through OpenFileDialog. It's taking up too much space to display the whole path, but I don't want to display only the filename as it might be ambiguous. So I would prefer to show the file path relative to the assembly/exe directory.

For example, the assembly resides at "C:\Program Files\Dummy Folder\MyProgram" and the file at "C:\Program Files\Dummy Folder\MyProgram\Data\datafile1.dat" then I would like it to show ".\Data\datafile1.dat". If the file is at "C:\Program Files\Dummy Folder\datafile1.dat", then I would want "..\datafile1.dat". But if the file is at the root directory or 1 directory below root, then display the full path.

What solution would you recommend? Regex?

Basically I wanted to display useful file path info without taking too much screen space.

EDIT: Just to clarify a little bit more. The purpose of this solution is to help user or myself knowing which file did I loaded last and roughly from which directory was it from. I'm using a readonly textbox to display the path. Most of the time, the file path is much longer than the display space of the textbox. The path is suppose to be informative but not important enough as to take up more screen space.

Alex Brault comment was good, so is Jonathan Leffler. The Win32 function provided by DavidK only help with part of the problem, not the whole of it, but thanks anyway. As for James Newton-King solution, I'll give it a try later when I'm free.

Answer 1

What about RelPath = AbsPath.Replace(ApplicationPath, ".") ?

Answer 2

I'd split both of your paths at the directory level. From there, find the point of divergence and work your way back to the assembly folder, prepending a '../' everytime you pass a directory.

Keep in mind however, that an absolute path works everywhere and is usually easier to read than a relative one. I personally wouldn't show an user a relative path unless it was absolutely necessary.

Answer 3

There is a Win32 function in shlwapi.dll that does exactly what you want: PathRelativePathTo(): http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb773740(VS.85).aspx

I'm not aware of any way to access this from .NET other than to P/Invoke it, though.

Answer 4

As Alex Brault points out, especially on Windows, the absolute path (with drive letter and all) is unambiguous and often better.

Shouldn't your OpenFileDialog use a regular tree-browser structure?

To get some nomenclature in place, the RefDir is the directory relative to which you want to specify the path; the AbsName is the absolute path name that you want to map; and the RelPath is the resulting relative path.

Take the first of these options that matches:

• If you have different drive letters, there is no relative path from RefDir to AbsName; you must use the AbsName.
• If the AbsName is in a sub-directory of RefDir or is a file within RefDir then simply remove the RefDir from the start of AbsName to create RelPath; optionally prepend "./" (or ".\" since you are on Windows).
• Find the longest common prefix of RefDir and AbsName (where D:\Abc\Def and D:\Abc\Default share D:\Abc as the longest common prefix; it has to be a mapping of name components, not a simple longest common substring); call it LCP. Remove LCP from AbsName and RefDir. For each path component left in (RefDir - LCP), prepend "..\" to (AbsName - LCP) to yield RelPath.

To illustrate the last rule (which is, of course, by far the most complex), start with:

RefDir = D:\Abc\Def\Ghi
AbsName = D:\Abc\Default\Karma\Crucible

Then

LCP = D:\Abc
(RefDir - LCP) = Def\Ghi
(Absname - LCP) = Default\Karma\Crucible
RelPath = ..\..\Default\Karma\Crucible

While I was typing, DavidK produced an answer which suggests that you are not the first to need this feature and that there is a standard function to do this job. Use it. But there's no harm in being able to think your way through from first principles, either.

Except that Unix systems do not support drive letters (so everything is always located under the same root directory, and the first bullet therefore is irrelevant), the same technique could be used on Unix.

Answer 5

I have used this in the past.

/// <summary>
/// Creates a relative path from one file
/// or folder to another.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="fromDirectory">
/// Contains the directory that defines the
/// start of the relative path.
/// </param>
/// <param name="toPath">
/// Contains the path that defines the
/// endpoint of the relative path.
/// </param>
/// <returns>
/// The relative path from the start
/// directory to the end path.
/// </returns>
/// <exception cref="ArgumentNullException"></exception>
public static string MakeRelative(string fromDirectory, string toPath)
{
  if (fromDirectory == null)
    throw new ArgumentNullException("fromDirectory");

  if (toPath == null)
    throw new ArgumentNullException("toPath");

  bool isRooted = (Path.IsPathRooted(fromDirectory) && Path.IsPathRooted(toPath));

  if (isRooted)
  {
    bool isDifferentRoot = (string.Compare(Path.GetPathRoot(fromDirectory), Path.GetPathRoot(toPath), true) != 0);

    if (isDifferentRoot)
      return toPath;
  }

  List<string> relativePath = new List<string>();
  string[] fromDirectories = fromDirectory.Split(Path.DirectorySeparatorChar);

  string[] toDirectories = toPath.Split(Path.DirectorySeparatorChar);

  int length = Math.Min(fromDirectories.Length, toDirectories.Length);

  int lastCommonRoot = -1;

  // find common root
  for (int x = 0; x < length; x++)
  {
    if (string.Compare(fromDirectories[x], toDirectories[x], true) != 0)
      break;

    lastCommonRoot = x;
  }

  if (lastCommonRoot == -1)
    return toPath;

  // add relative folders in from path
  for (int x = lastCommonRoot + 1; x < fromDirectories.Length; x++)
  {
    if (fromDirectories[x].Length > 0)
      relativePath.Add("..");
  }

  // add to folders to path
  for (int x = lastCommonRoot + 1; x < toDirectories.Length; x++)
  {
    relativePath.Add(toDirectories[x]);
  }

  // create relative path
  string[] relativeParts = new string[relativePath.Count];
  relativePath.CopyTo(relativeParts, 0);

  string newPath = string.Join(Path.DirectorySeparatorChar.ToString(), relativeParts);

  return newPath;
}

Answer 6

If you have a readonly text box, could you not not make it a label and set AutoEllipsis=true?

alternatively there are posts with code for generating the autoellipsis yourself: (this does it for a grid, you would need to pass i the width for the text box instead. It isn't quite right as it hacks off a bit more than is necessary, and I haven;t got around to finding where the calculation is incorrect. it would be easy enough to modify to remove the first part of the directory rather than the last if you desire.

Private Function AddEllipsisPath(ByVal text As String, ByVal colIndex As Integer, ByVal grid As DataGridView) As String
    'Get the size with the column's width 
    Dim colWidth As Integer = grid.Columns(colIndex).Width

    'Calculate the dimensions of the text with the current font
    Dim textSize As SizeF = MeasureString(text, grid.Font)

    Dim rawText As String = text
    Dim FileNameLen As Integer = text.Length - text.LastIndexOf("\")
    Dim ReplaceWith As String = "\..."

    Do While textSize.Width > colWidth
        ' Trim to make room for the ellipsis
        Dim LastFolder As Integer = rawText.LastIndexOf("\", rawText.Length - FileNameLen - 1)

        If LastFolder < 0 Then
            Exit Do
        End If

        rawText = rawText.Substring(0, LastFolder) + ReplaceWith + rawText.Substring(rawText.Length - FileNameLen)

        If ReplaceWith.Length > 0 Then
            FileNameLen += 4
            ReplaceWith = ""
        End If
        textSize = MeasureString(rawText, grid.Font)
    Loop

    Return rawText
End Function

Private Function MeasureString(ByVal text As String, ByVal fontInfo As Font) As SizeF
    Dim size As SizeF
    Dim emSize As Single = fontInfo.Size
    If emSize = 0 Then emSize = 12

    Dim stringFont As New Font(fontInfo.Name, emSize)

    Dim bmp As New Bitmap(1000, 100)
    Dim g As Graphics = Graphics.FromImage(bmp)

    size = g.MeasureString(text, stringFont)
    g.Dispose()
    Return size
End Function

Answer 7

It's a long way around, but System.Uri class has a method named MakeRelativeUri. Maybe you could use that. It's a shame really that System.IO.Path doesn't have this.

Answer 8

    /// <summary>
    /// Creates a relative path from one file or folder to another.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="fromPath">Contains the directory that defines the start of the relative path.</param>
    /// <param name="toPath">Contains the path that defines the endpoint of the relative path.</param>
    /// <param name="dontEscape">Boolean indicating whether to add uri safe escapes to the relative path</param>
    /// <returns>The relative path from the start directory to the end path.</returns>
    /// <exception cref="ArgumentNullException"></exception>
    public static String MakeRelativePath(String fromPath, String toPath, Boolean dontEscape)
    {
        if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(fromPath)) throw new ArgumentNullException("fromPath");
        if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(toPath))   throw new ArgumentNullException("toPath");

        Uri fromUri = new Uri(fromPath, dontEscape);
        Uri toUri = new Uri(toPath, dontEscape);

        Uri relativeUri = fromUri.MakeRelativeUri(toUri);

        return relativeUri.ToString();

    }

Answer 9

A bit late to the question, but I just needed this feature as well. I agree with DavidK that since there is a built-in API function that provides this, you should use it. Here's a managed wrapper for it:

public static string GetRelativePath(string fromPath, string toPath)
{
    int fromAttr = GetPathAttribute(fromPath);
    int toAttr = GetPathAttribute(toPath);

    StringBuilder path = new StringBuilder(260); // MAX_PATH
    if(PathRelativePathTo(
        path,
        fromPath,
        fromAttr,
        toPath,
        toAttr) == 0)
    {
        throw new ArgumentException("Paths must have a common prefix");
    }
    return path.ToString();
}

private static int GetPathAttribute(string path)
{
    DirectoryInfo di = new DirectoryInfo(path);
    if (di.Exists)
    {
        return FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY;
    }

    FileInfo fi = new FileInfo(path);
    if(fi.Exists)
    {
        return FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL;
    }

    throw new FileNotFoundException();
}

private const int FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY = 0x10;
private const int FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL = 0x80;

[DllImport("shlwapi.dll", SetLastError = true)]
private static extern int PathRelativePathTo(StringBuilder pszPath, 
    string pszFrom, int dwAttrFrom, string pszTo, int dwAttrTo);

Answer 10

If you're sure that your absolute path 2 is always relative to absolute path, just remove the first N characters from path2, where N is the length of path1.

Answer 11

You want to use the CommonPath method of this RelativePath class. Once you have the common path, just strip it out of the path you want to display.

Namespace IO.Path

    Public NotInheritable Class RelativePath

        Private Declare Function PathRelativePathTo Lib "shlwapi" Alias "PathRelativePathToA" ( _
            ByVal pszPath As String, _
            ByVal pszFrom As String, _
            ByVal dwAttrFrom As Integer, _
            ByVal pszTo As String, _
            ByVal dwAttrTo As Integer) As Integer

        Private Declare Function PathCanonicalize Lib "shlwapi" Alias "PathCanonicalizeA" ( _
            ByVal pszBuf As String, _
            ByVal pszPath As String) As Integer

        Private Const FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY As Short = &H10S

        Private Const MAX_PATH As Short = 260

        Private _path As String
        Private _isDirectory As Boolean

#Region " Constructors "

        Public Sub New()

        End Sub

        Public Sub New(ByVal path As String)
            _path = path
        End Sub

        Public Sub New(ByVal path As String, ByVal isDirectory As Boolean)
            _path = path
            _isDirectory = isDirectory
        End Sub

#End Region

        Private Shared Function StripNulls(ByVal value As String) As String
            StripNulls = value
            If (InStr(value, vbNullChar) > 0) Then
                StripNulls = Left(value, InStr(value, vbNullChar) - 1)
            End If
        End Function

        Private Shared Function TrimCurrentDirectory(ByVal path As String) As String
            TrimCurrentDirectory = path
            If Len(path) >= 2 And Left(path, 2) = ".\" Then
                TrimCurrentDirectory = Mid(path, 3)
            End If
        End Function

        ''' <summary>
        ''' 3. conforming to general principles: conforming to accepted principles or standard practice
        ''' </summary>
        Public Shared Function Canonicalize(ByVal path As String) As String
            Dim sPath As String

            sPath = New String(Chr(0), MAX_PATH)

            If PathCanonicalize(sPath, path) = 0 Then
                Canonicalize = vbNullString
            Else
                Canonicalize = StripNulls(sPath)
            End If

        End Function

        ''' <summary>
        ''' Returns the most common path between two paths.
        ''' </summary>
        ''' <remarks>
        ''' <para>returns the path that is common between two paths</para>
        ''' <para>c:\FolderA\FolderB\FolderC</para>
        '''   c:\FolderA\FolderD\FolderE\File.Ext
        ''' 
        '''   results in:
        '''       c:\FolderA\
        ''' </remarks>
        Public Shared Function CommonPath(ByVal path1 As String, ByVal path2 As String) As String
            'returns the path that is common between two paths
            '
            '   c:\FolderA\FolderB\FolderC
            '   c:\FolderA\FolderD\FolderE\File.Ext
            '
            '   results in:
            '       c:\FolderA\

            Dim sResult As String = String.Empty
            Dim iPos1, iPos2 As Integer
            path1 = Canonicalize(path1)
            path2 = Canonicalize(path2)
            Do
                If Left(path1, iPos1) = Left(path2, iPos2) Then
                    sResult = Left(path1, iPos1)
                End If
                iPos1 = InStr(iPos1 + 1, path1, "\")
                iPos2 = InStr(iPos2 + 1, path1, "\")
            Loop While Left(path1, iPos1) = Left(path2, iPos2)

            Return sResult

        End Function

        Public Function CommonPath(ByVal path As String) As String
            Return CommonPath(_path, path)
        End Function

        Public Shared Function RelativePathTo(ByVal source As String, ByVal isSourceDirectory As Boolean, ByVal target As String, ByVal isTargetDirectory As Boolean) As String
            'DEVLIB
            '   05/23/05  1:47PM - Fixed call to PathRelativePathTo, iTargetAttribute is now passed to dwAttrTo instead of IsTargetDirectory.
            '       For Visual Basic 6.0, the fix does not change testing results,
            '           because when the Boolean IsTargetDirectory is converted to the Long dwAttrTo it happens to contain FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY,
            '
            Dim sRelativePath As String
            Dim iSourceAttribute, iTargetAttribute As Integer

            sRelativePath = New String(Chr(0), MAX_PATH)
            source = Canonicalize(source)
            target = Canonicalize(target)

            If isSourceDirectory Then
                iSourceAttribute = FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY
            End If

            If isTargetDirectory Then
                iTargetAttribute = FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY
            End If

            If PathRelativePathTo(sRelativePath, source, iSourceAttribute, target, iTargetAttribute) = 0 Then
                RelativePathTo = vbNullString
            Else
                RelativePathTo = TrimCurrentDirectory(StripNulls(sRelativePath))
            End If

        End Function

        Public Function RelativePath(ByVal target As String) As String
            Return RelativePathTo(_path, _isDirectory, target, False)
        End Function

    End Class

End Namespace