Process folder path and handle trailing slash in a single line?

Question

This code accepts a path/to/folder or a path/to/folder/ (notice the trailing slash) and extracts the name of the last folder in the string, i.e.:

path = 'path/to/folder'.split('/');
folder = path.pop() || path.pop(); // taking care of trailing slash

// folder == 'folder'

I'm curious, is it possible to turn this into a one-liner? I would appreciate both regex and non-regex answers :)

As a side note, I just realized that my code doesn't know how to handle more than one trailing slash (like a typo) - so I'd appreciate it if you could take that into account as well.

Edit: I'm really hoping to see a non-regex answer

folder = path.split('/').slice(0, path.split('/').indexOf(''));, but this works only in modern browsers. — Teemu
– Teemu, Commented Jun 5, 2013 at 8:00

Teemu · Accepted Answer · 2013-06-06 14:58:34Z

1

In modern browsers you can do something like this:

folder = (path + '/').split(/\/+|\\+/).slice(0, path.split(/\/+|\\+/).indexOf(''));

The code handles also backslashes, even mixed with slashes. A simple Fiddle.

edited Jun 6, 2013 at 14:58

answered Jun 5, 2013 at 9:01

Teemu

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3 Comments

pilau Over a year ago

By the way, this way you can work with any number of redundant slashes: (path + '/').split(/\/+|\\+/).slice(0, path.split(/\/+|\\+/).indexOf(''));

Teemu Over a year ago

@pilau Ofcourse... I've added +s to my answer for future visitors, if it's OK?

pilau Over a year ago

Yeah, sure! I'll mark it as a right answer too... doesn't seem like I'll be getting any non-regex answers soon... Cheers for the best solution :)

konart · Accepted Answer · 2013-06-05 08:10:35Z

1

I think this is what you want:

path = 'path/to/folder';
folder = path.match(/\/([^\/]+)[\/]*$/)[1]

Should work with or without trailing slash and with two slashes too.

answered Jun 5, 2013 at 8:10

konart

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4 Comments

pilau Over a year ago

Clean and simple :) Let's take it up a notch. Say this code is supposed to work on Windows and Unix machines - how would you handle the different slashes?

konart Over a year ago

I think I'd find something similar to python's os.path.normpath or just replace "\" with "/" before doing a match() :)

pilau Over a year ago

Well we do have Node.js path library. But the bigger question is can it be done in a single line? ;)

pilau Over a year ago

Not really important - I like to learn alternative methods of doing things. It gets me familiar with other attitudes towards solving problems, and of course, expands my knowledge of JS. Lately I've been into one-liners. So that's the challenge!

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