[SOLVED] Path separators #PS, #NPS, #PS$, #NPS$

[Oso]

Hello all, can someone confirm if #PS and #PS$ change their result according to the system type?

I noticed that the manual indicates #PS$ is a ' \'. I thought that #PS$ varied depending on the O/S and would be '/' on Unix systems...

"Specific OS path separator characters are available #PS, #NPS, #PS$ (’\’) and #NPS$ (’/’)"

On Windows I see these results...

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OpenConsole()
PrintN(Str(#PS))       ; 92
PrintN(Str(#NPS))      ; 47
PrintN(#PS$)           ; \
PrintN(#NPS$)          ; /
Input()

Below from 22nd January 2019...
"Added: #PS, #NPS, #PS$ and #NPS$ constants (Path seperator character depending of the OS)"
https://www.purebasic.com/news.php

[Olli]

Hello !

What I understood is that a path (or full path file name) can be written like this...

Code: Select all

root/directory/subdirectory/file.ext

... whatever the OS.

Hope you will have a more accurate answer.

[NicTheQuick]

Here's the output on Linux:

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Debug #PS       ; 47
Debug #NPS      ; 92
Debug #PS$      ; /
Debug #NPS$     ; \

[collectordave]

I have found that #PS$ returns "\" on windows and "/" on the Mac which seems to be correct.

Can anyone explain the use of #NPS$ it is the N which is getting me.

[Oso]

Here's the output on Linux:

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Debug #PS       ; 47
Debug #NPS      ; 92
Debug #PS$      ; /
Debug #NPS$     ; \

Thanks for trying this, NicTheQuick. That confirms what I originally thought, which is that #PS$ can be used on both Windows and Linux, without needing anything further. I remembered a post from BarryG a few weeks ago but couldn't find it. When I looked in the manual today, it's a bit confusing.

[Oso]

What I understood is that a path (or full path file name) can be written like this...

Code: Select all

root/directory/subdirectory/file.ext

... whatever the OS.

More or less, yes, but you would code it as...

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path.s = "root" + #PS$ + "directory" + #PS$ + "subdirectory" + #PS$ + "file.ext"

[Oso]

I have found that #PS$ returns "\" on windows and "/" on the Mac which seems to be correct.
Can anyone explain the use of #NPS$ it is the N which is getting me.

Thanks. Yes, I was thinking exactly the same thing. The only reason I could possibly come up with, is if you're writing some code on Windows that generates some kind of output for Linux/Mac. For instance, building an ftp script to a Linux client. Yeah, it still seems weird though.

[Demivec]

From what I understand, #NPS$ is the 'Not' Path Separator string. In other words, the one for other OS's.

[Oso]

From what I understand, #NPS$ is the 'Not' Path Separator string. In other words, the one for other OS's.

Yes, a good way to describe it. After you put it that way, I realised it could be very useful for validating a user's input of a pathname, i.e. to stop the user from entering that character because it isn't going to work on the system.

It's easier than checking for the use of the valid character.