How to get relative path from absolute path

Question

There\'s a part in my apps that displays 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

Answer 1

Way with Uri not worked on linux/macOS systems. Path '/var/www/root' can't be converted to Uri. More universal way - do all by hands.

public static string MakeRelativePath(string fromPath, string toPath, string sep = "/")
{
    var fromParts = fromPath.Split(new[] { '/', '\\'},
        StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);
    var toParts = toPath.Split(new[] { '/', '\\'},
        StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);

    var matchedParts = fromParts
        .Zip(toParts, (x, y) => string.Compare(x, y, true) == 0)
        .TakeWhile(x => x).Count();

    return string.Join("", Enumerable.Range(0, fromParts.Length - matchedParts)
        .Select(x => ".." + sep)) +
            string.Join(sep, toParts.Skip(matchedParts));
}        

PS: i use "/" as a default value of separator instead of Path.DirectorySeparatorChar, because result of this method used as uri in my app.

Answer 2

I'm using this:

public static class StringExtensions
{
  /// <summary>
  /// Creates a relative path from one file or folder to another.
  /// </summary>
  /// <param name="absPath">Absolute path.</param>
  /// <param name="relTo">Directory that defines the start of the relative path.</param> 
  /// <returns>The relative path from the start directory to the end path.</returns>
  public static string MakeRelativePath(this string absPath, string relTo)
  {
      string[] absParts = absPath.Split(Path.DirectorySeparatorChar);
      string[] relParts = relTo.Split(Path.DirectorySeparatorChar);

      // Get the shortest of the two paths
      int len = absParts.Length < relParts.Length
          ? absParts.Length : relParts.Length;

      // Use to determine where in the loop we exited
      int lastCommonRoot = -1;
      int index;

      // Find common root
      for (index = 0; index < len; index++)
      {
          if (absParts[index].Equals(relParts[index], StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
              lastCommonRoot = index;
          else 
            break;
      }

      // If we didn't find a common prefix then throw
      if (lastCommonRoot == -1)
          throw new ArgumentException("The path of the two files doesn't have any common base.");

      // Build up the relative path
      var relativePath = new StringBuilder();

      // Add on the ..
      for (index = lastCommonRoot + 1; index < relParts.Length; index++)
      {
        relativePath.Append("..");
        relativePath.Append(Path.DirectorySeparatorChar);
      }

      // Add on the folders
      for (index = lastCommonRoot + 1; index < absParts.Length - 1; index++)
      {
        relativePath.Append(absParts[index]);
        relativePath.Append(Path.DirectorySeparatorChar);
      }
      relativePath.Append(absParts[absParts.Length - 1]);

      return relativePath.ToString();
  }
}

Answer 3

.NET Core 2.0 has Path.GetRelativePath, else, use this.

/// <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>
/// <returns>The relative path from the start directory to the end path or <c>toPath</c> if the paths are not related.</returns>
/// <exception cref="ArgumentNullException"></exception>
/// <exception cref="UriFormatException"></exception>
/// <exception cref="InvalidOperationException"></exception>
public static String MakeRelativePath(String fromPath, String toPath)
{
    if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(fromPath)) throw new ArgumentNullException("fromPath");
    if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(toPath))   throw new ArgumentNullException("toPath");

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

    if (fromUri.Scheme != toUri.Scheme) { return toPath; } // path can't be made relative.

    Uri relativeUri = fromUri.MakeRelativeUri(toUri);
    String relativePath = Uri.UnescapeDataString(relativeUri.ToString());

    if (toUri.Scheme.Equals("file", StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase))
    {
        relativePath = relativePath.Replace(Path.AltDirectorySeparatorChar, Path.DirectorySeparatorChar);
    }

    return relativePath;
}

Answer 4

This should work:

private string rel(string path) {
  string[] cwd  = new Regex(@"[\\]").Split(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory());
  string[] fp   = new Regex(@"[\\]").Split(path);

  int common = 0;

  for (int n = 0; n < fp.Length; n++) {
    if (n < cwd.Length && n < fp.Length && cwd[n] == fp[n]) {
      common++;
    }
  }

  if (common > 0) {
    List<string> rp = new List<string>();

    for (int n = 0; n < (cwd.Length - common); n++) {
      rp.Add("..");
    }

    for (int n = common; n < fp.Length; n++) {
      rp.Add(fp[n]);
    }

    return String.Join("/", rp.ToArray());
  } else {
    return String.Join("/", fp);
  }
}

Answer 5

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

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