JavaScript: Simplify a given absolute path for a file in Unix-style

JavaScript Basic: Exercise-142 with Solution

Write a JavaScript program to simplify a given absolute path for a file in Unix-style.

Sample Solution:

JavaScript Code:

/**
 * Function to simplify a given path
 * @param {string} main_path - The main path to simplify
 * @returns {string} - Returns the simplified path
 */
function simplify_path(main_path) {
  // Splitting the path into parts
  var parts = main_path.split('/'),
    new_path = [], // Array to store the simplified path
    length = 0; // Variable to keep track of the length of the new path

  // Loop through each part of the path
  for (var i = 0; i < parts.length; i++) {
    var part = parts[i];

    // Conditions to handle special cases ('.', '..', '')
    if (part === '.' || part === '' || part === '..') {
      if (part === '..' && length > 0) {
        length--; // Move back one directory level
      }
      continue; // Skip to the next part
    }

    new_path[length++] = part; // Store the valid part in the new path array
  }

  // If the new path is empty, return the root path '/'
  if (length === 0) {
    return '/';
  }

  // Reconstructing the simplified path
  var result = '';
  for (var i = 0; i < length; i++) {
    result += '/' + new_path[i]; // Append parts of the new path separated by '/'
  }

  return result; // Return the simplified path
}

console.log(simplify_path("/home/var/./www/../html//sql/")); // Output: '/home/var/html/sql' 

Output:

/home/var/html/sql

Live Demo:

See the Pen javascript-basic-exercise-142 by w3resource (@w3resource) on CodePen.

Flowchart:

ES6 Version:

/**
 * Function to simplify a given path
 * @param {string} mainPath - The main path to simplify
 * @returns {string} - Returns the simplified path
 */
const simplifyPath = (mainPath) => {
  const parts = mainPath.split('/'); // Splitting the path into parts
  const newPath = []; // Array to store the simplified path
  let newPathLength = 0; // Variable to keep track of the length of the new path

  // Loop through each part of the path
  for (let i = 0; i < parts.length; i++) {
    const part = parts[i];

    // Conditions to handle special cases ('.', '..', '')
    if (part === '.' || part === '' || part === '..') {
      // Move back one directory level if '..' and there's a directory to move back to
      if (part === '..' && newPathLength > 0) {
        newPathLength--;
      }
      continue; // Skip to the next part
    }

    newPath[newPathLength++] = part; // Store the valid part in the new path array
  }

  // If the new path is empty, return the root path '/'
  if (newPathLength === 0) {
    return '/';
  }

  // Reconstructing the simplified path
  let result = '';
  for (let i = 0; i < newPathLength; i++) {
    result += '/' + newPath[i]; // Append parts of the new path separated by '/'
  }

  return result; // Return the simplified path
}

console.log(simplifyPath("/home/var/./www/../html//sql/")); // Output: '/home/var/html/sql'

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