Cut off the filename and extension of a given string.

Question

I build a little script that parses a directory for files of a given filetype and stores the location (including the filename) in an array. This look like this:

def getFiles(directory)
  arr = Dir[directory + '/**/*.plt']
  arr.each do |k|
    puts "#{k}"
  end
end

The output is the path and the files. But I want only the path.

Instead of /foo/bar.txt I want only the /foo/

My first thought was a regexp but I am not sure how to do that.

Answer 1

I would split it into an array by the slashes, then remove the last element (the filename), then join it into a string again.

path = '/foo/bar.txt'

path = path.split '/'
path.pop
path = path.join '/'

# path is now '/foo'

Answer 2

The following code should work (tested in the ruby console):

>> path = "/foo/bar/file.txt"
=> "/foo/bar/file.txt"
>> path[0..path.rindex('/')]
=> "/foo/bar/"

rindex finds the index of the last occurrence of substring. Here is the documentation http://docs.huihoo.com/api/ruby/core/1.8.4/classes/String.html#M001461

Good luck!

Answer 3

not sure what language your in but here is the regex for the last / to the end of the string.

/[^\/]*+$/

Transliterates to all characters that are not '/' before the end of the string

Answer 4

You don't need a regex or split.

File.dirname("/foo/bar/baz.txt")
# => "/foo/bar"

Answer 5

Could File.dirname be of any use?

File.dirname(file_name ) → dir_name

Returns all components of the filename given in file_name except the last one. The filename must be formed using forward slashes (``/’’) regardless of the separator used on the local file system.

File.dirname("/home/gumby/work/ruby.rb") #=> "/home/gumby/work"

Answer 6

For a regular expression, this should work, since * is greedy:

.*/