Tech Tip: Utility method to find parent directory of a file/folder

PRODUCT: 4D | VERSION: 14.x | PLATFORM: Mac & Win

Published On: August 7, 2015

Below is an utility method that returns the parent directory of a given file/folder.

C_TEXT($1;$childPath)
C_TEXT($parentPath;$sep;$pattern)
C_LONGINT($length;$pos;$len)
C_BOOLEAN($found)

If (Count parameters=1)
   $childPath:=$1
   $length:=Length($childPath)
   $sep:=Folder separator

   If ($childPath[[$length]]=$sep) & ($length>1)
      $childPath:=Substring($childPath;1;$length-1)
   End if

   If ($sep="\\")
      $pattern:="(?mi-s)(\\"+$sep+")(?!.*\\"+$sep+")"
   Else
      $pattern:="(?mi-s)("+$sep+")(?!.*"+$sep+")"
   End if

   $found:=Match regex($pattern;$childPath;1;$pos;$len)
   If ($found)
      $parentPath:=Substring($childPath;1;$pos)
   End if
   $0:=$parentPath
End if

Example:

C_TEXT($path;$parent)
$path:="C:\\Users\\User1\\File1.txt"
$parent:=UTIL_GET_Parent_Directory($path)
//$parent returns "C:\\Users\\User1\\"