How to convert boost path type to string?

Question

Hello I currently have a program that gets a full path of a file's location and is put into a variable that is the type of: boost::filesystem2::path

I have looked up how to do this and have found that using:

string result1 = boost::filesystem::basename (myPath)

will convert the path to string BUT it only converts the file name (e.g. if the path is "C:\name\bobsAwesomeWordDoc.docx" it just returns "bobsAwesomeWordDoc").

I have found the following on how to convert the entire path to string, but I don't know how to implement it in my program. I have tried multiple ways but I am getting conversion errors.

const std::string& string( ): This routine returns a copy of the string with which the path was initialized, with formatting per the path grammar rules.

(found here)

I have tried:

string result1 = string& (myPath);

and a few other variations.

icecrime · Accepted Answer · 2014-02-18 08:41:05Z

202

You just need to call myPath.string().

edited Feb 18, 2014 at 8:41

answered Nov 14, 2010 at 19:51

icecrime

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2 Comments

Sergey Shambir Over a year ago

Are there guarantues that string returns utf8 encoded path on all platforms?

Cheers and hth. - Alf Over a year ago

@SergeyShambir: Unfortunately not. One can explicitly use u8string(), but that doesn't help where string() is used automatically.

zdim · Accepted Answer · 2017-10-05 22:41:49Z

21

I believe you need to do a little more than just convert the path to a string - you should first obtain the canonical version of the path - an absolute path with no symbolic-link elements - and convert that into a string:

boost::filesystem::canonical(myPath).string();

P.S. - I've been programming with Boost for ages and I couldn't easily find this info in the docs.

Update (Oct 2017)

Documentation: boost::filesystem::canonical.

But note that as of C++17 there is std::filesystem, with canonical and a lot more.

edited Oct 5, 2017 at 22:41

zdim

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answered Jun 7, 2012 at 13:47

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5 Comments

alestanis Over a year ago

The accepted answer is a much simpler alternative (and it works)

Brian Jack Over a year ago

canonical is deprecated in newer versions of Boost boost.org/doc/libs/1_48_0/libs/filesystem/v3/doc/…

Maru Over a year ago

@BrianJack huh, how is it deprecated? Sry, cannot find any official note... see also 1.60 reference: boost.org/doc/libs/1_60_0/libs/filesystem/doc/…

Brian Jack Over a year ago

@MarcoAlka See the linked table boost.org/doc/libs/1_48_0/libs/filesystem/v3/doc/… and note the second line: class path canonize() Function removed - that means it was once in the library but no longer--the definition of deprecated.

zdim Over a year ago

@BrianJack It is the canonize that is deprecated, per your second link, but canonical doesn't seem to be (per your first link, for 1_48 V3). Now in C++17 we have std::filesystem of course

Laurel · Accepted Answer · 2016-07-04 00:21:00Z

This worked in wxWidgets: (I know I should just use the wx utilities but it is a test)

void WxWidgetsBoostTestFrame::OnTestBtnClick(wxCommandEvent& event) { boost::filesystem::path currentPath; currentPath = boost::filesystem::current_path(); std::string curDirString; curDirString = boost::filesystem::canonical(currentPath).string(); wxString mystring(curDirString.c_str(), wxConvUTF8); wxMessageBox(mystring); // output: C:/Users\client\Desktop... }

J.Adler · Accepted Answer · 2016-07-04 06:00:09Z

2

Calling myPath.generic_string() will do what you need.

answered Jul 4, 2016 at 6:00

J.Adler

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Comments

Brian · Accepted Answer · 2021-08-03 16:57:58Z

Personally I had to do

boost::filesystem::absolute(path).string()

to get it to work, as:

path.string()

kept returning a relative path.

Calorified · Accepted Answer · 2018-07-04 07:45:33Z

-1

Do this

path.c_str();

You should be fine.

answered Jul 4, 2018 at 7:45

Calorified

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