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Pathnames

File and folder functions, properties, and commands allow you to handle files and folders as objects. This makes file and folder management powerful and flexible. For example, to create a new file in the resources folder, you can write:

ok = file("/SOURCES/Shared/Archives/JohnQ.prefs").create()

File and folder objects support fileSystem pathnames, which provide contextual path to main application folders.

Filesystem pathnames

QodlyScript accepts several filesystem pathnames that designate specific folders. Filesystem pathnames are useful for two main reasons:

  • Independence: You can move your solution from one place to another regardless of the environment, without having to worry about paths,
  • Security: No code can access elements located above the file system root on the disk (sandboxing).

The following filesystem pathnames are supported:

filesystemDesignates
"/PACKAGE"Project root folder
"/DATA"Current data folder
"/LOGS"Logs folder
"/PROJECT"Project folder
"/SOURCES"Current project sources folder
"/RESOURCES"Current project ressources folder

POSIX syntax

QodlyScript uses the POSIX syntax. With this syntax:

  • folders are separated by "/"
  • absolute pathnames start with a "/"
  • to move up one folder in a relative path, use "../" in front of the pathname (for security, you cannot move up the filesystem).

In POSIX syntax, you will generally use filesystem pathnames with file and folder commands, for example:

pathFile = file("/DATA/Archives/file 2.txt")
pathFolder = folder("/SOURCES/Shared/Pictures")

file and folder constructors

file and Folder commands only accept absolute pathnames. Relative pathnames are not supported and will return errors. For example, the following code is not allowed:

    //ERROR
ko = folder("myFolder").create() //relative pathname with constructor

If you want to handle files or folders in various locations (project folder, system folders, etc.), you must use filesystems. For example, you can write:

okFolder = folder("/PACKAGE/myFolder").create() //folder created at the project level
okFile = file("/DATA/Prefs/tempo.txt").create() //file created in the data folder

Examples

The flexibility of file and folder functions offers you various possibilities for handling files and folders, like in the following examples:

f = folder("/DATA").folder("archive/jan2023")

f2 = folder("/DATA/archive/jan2023").file("total.txt")

f3 = folder("/DATA/archive/jan2023")

f4 = file("/DATA/info.txt")