Relative Paths in Python

Relative paths in Python

In the file that has the script, you want to do something like this:

import os
dirname = os.path.dirname(__file__)
filename = os.path.join(dirname, 'relative/path/to/file/you/want')

This will give you the absolute path to the file you're looking for. Note that if you're using setuptools, you should probably use its package resources API instead.

UPDATE: I'm responding to a comment here so I can paste a code sample. :-)

Am I correct in thinking that __file__ is not always available (e.g. when you run the file directly rather than importing it)?

I'm assuming you mean the __main__ script when you mention running the file directly. If so, that doesn't appear to be the case on my system (python 2.5.1 on OS X 10.5.7):

#foo.py
import os
print os.getcwd()
print __file__

#in the interactive interpreter
>>> import foo
/Users/jason
foo.py

#and finally, at the shell:
~ % python foo.py
/Users/jason
foo.py

However, I do know that there are some quirks with __file__ on C extensions. For example, I can do this on my Mac:

>>> import collections #note that collections is a C extension in Python 2.5
>>> collections.__file__
'/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.5/lib/python2.5/lib-
dynload/collections.so'

However, this raises an exception on my Windows machine.

Reading file using relative path in python project

Relative paths are relative to current working directory.
If you do not your want your path to be, it must be absolute.

But there is an often used trick to build an absolute path from current script: use its __file__ special attribute:

from pathlib import Path

path = Path(__file__).parent / "../data/test.csv"
with path.open() as f:
    test = list(csv.reader(f))

This requires python 3.4+ (for the pathlib module).

If you still need to support older versions, you can get the same result with:

import csv
import os.path

my_path = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))
path = os.path.join(my_path, "../data/test.csv")
with open(path) as f:
    test = list(csv.reader(f))

[2020 edit: python3.4+ should now be the norm, so I moved the pathlib version inspired by jpyams' comment first]

Calling for relative paths in Python

I would recommend you leave all the current working directory concerns to the user - if they want to specify a relative path, they can enter into the directory to which it relates before invoking the python and providing relative paths.

This is what just about every linux tool and program does - rarely do they take a 'base path', but rather leave the job of providing valid paths relative to the current directory ( or absolute ) to the user.

If you're dedicated to the idea of taking another parameter as the relative path, it should be pretty straightforward to do. Your example doesn't have valid python syntax, but it's close:

$ cat t.py
from os.path import join
basepath="/tmp"
pathA = "fileA"
pathB = "fileB"
print(join(basepath,pathA))
print(join(basepath,pathB))

note however that this prevents an absolute path being provided at script execution time.

You could use a format instead,

basepath="/tmp"
pathA = "fileA"
pathB = "fileB"
print( "{}/{}".format(basepath, pathA) )
print( "{}/{}".format(basepath, pathB) )

But then you're assuming that you know how to join paths on the operating system in question, which is why os.path.join exists.

How to use Relative paths in python with, with open() and windows cmd or powershell

If your cwd is: E:\@CodingGameEngine\!Projects\PythonProjects\RandomProjects\Keyboard\Program then you only need to be relative to that:

with open("log\_temp.txt", "w") as f:

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