Convert Relative path to Absolute path, without changing directory to the file location.

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bash, convert, directory, dirname. pwd, file, newbies, path, readlink, realpath, shell script

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12-04-2019

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In bash on some systems it is a shell function:

Code:

realpath ()                                                                                                                                                                                   
{                                                                                                                                                                                             
    f=$@;                                                                                                                                                                                     
    if [ -d "$f" ]; then                                                                                                                                                                      
        base="";                                                                                                                                                                              
        dir="$f";                                                                                                                                                                             
    else                                                                                                                                                                                      
        base="/$(basename "$f")";                                                                                                                                                             
        dir=$(dirname "$f");                                                                                                                                                                  
    fi;                                                                                                                                                                                       
    dir=$(cd "$dir" && /bin/pwd);                                                                                                                                                             
    echo "$dir$base"                                                                                                                                                                          
}

I cannot vouch for this code because I use the standard C library realpath in a compiled module. The example above is a copy that I found a while back when researching a similar problem to what you have when trying to migrate scripts across Linux distros.

If someone knows more I'd like to see it.

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