realpath function

Synopsis

$realpath(<filepath>)

Technical

Returns the absolute path of an existing file or directory, resolving symbolic links, . and .. components, and redundant separators through the operating system's realpath() function. All path components, including the final file or directory, must exist and be resolvable. The current implementation has no fallback that simply returns the supplied path when realpath() is unavailable. See the POSIX realpath specification for pathname resolution and platform errors.

The entire argument string is the path. There is no word splitting or removal of double quotes, so a path containing spaces should be supplied directly, without adding grouping quotes. Leading ~, ~/, or ~user/ is expanded using the client's home directory or the named user's home directory before resolution. Relative paths start from the client's current working directory; /cd changes that directory.

Practical

Use this function to obtain an absolute filename from a path containing relative components or symbolic links. It resolves filesystem paths, not load-path searches, wildcard patterns, or virtual archive-member paths.

Returns

The resolved absolute path, without added quotes, or the empty string on failure. Missing input, an unknown user in tilde expansion, nonexistent path components, inaccessible directories, and symbolic-link loops can cause failure. The wrapper does not report a separate diagnostic or errno value. It neither creates files nor changes the working directory, and requires no IRC connection.

Examples

If /home links to /usr/home, /usr/local links to /local, and /local/src exists:

$realpath(/home/../local/src) returns /local/src.

Resolution follows /home to /usr/home, then .. to /usr, then local to /local, and finally src.

$realpath(.) returns the client's current directory as an absolute path.

Source

Registration and function_realpath(): source/functions.c. normalize_filename() and expand_twiddle(): source/ircaux.c.