Make directory path

Make directory path
You are encouraged to solve this task according to the task description, using any language you may know.

Task

Create a directory and any missing parents.

This task is named after the posix mkdir -p command, and several libraries which implement the same behavior.

Please implement a function of a single path string (for example ./path/to/dir) which has the above side-effect. If the directory already exists, return successfully. Ideally implementations will work equally well cross-platform (on windows, linux, and OS X).

It's likely that your language implements such a function as part of its standard library. If so, please also show how such a function would be implemented.

11l

fs:create_dirs(path)

Ada

with Ada.Command_Line;
with Ada.Directories;
with Ada.Text_IO;

procedure Make_Directory_Path is
begin
   if Ada.Command_Line.Argument_Count /= 1 then
      Ada.Text_IO.Put_Line ("Usage: make_directory_path <path/to/dir>");
      return;
   end if;

   declare
      Path : String renames Ada.Command_Line.Argument (1);
   begin
      Ada.Directories.Create_Path (Path);
   end;
end Make_Directory_Path;

Aime

void
mkdirp(text path)
{
    list l;
    text p, s;

    file().b_affix(path).news(l, 0, 0, "/");

    for (, s in l) {
        p = p + s + "/";
        trap_q(mkdir, p, 00755);
    }
}

integer
main(void)
{
    mkdirp("./path/to/dir");

    0;
}

AppleScript

AppleScript is not a cross-platform language so this is a macOS-only solution. In post-Yosemite AppleScript we can draw on the macOS Foundation classes, which include the NSFileManager method: `createDirectoryAtPath:withIntermediateDirectories:attributes:error:`

use framework "Foundation"
use scripting additions


-- createOrFindDirectoryMay :: Bool -> FilePath -> Maybe IO ()
on createOrFindDirectoryMay(fp)
    createDirectoryIfMissingMay(true, fp)
end createOrFindDirectoryMay


-- createDirectoryIfMissingMay :: Bool -> FilePath -> Maybe IO ()
on createDirectoryIfMissingMay(blnParents, fp)
    if doesPathExist(fp) then
        nothing("Directory already exists: " & fp)
    else
        set e to reference
        set ca to current application
        set oPath to (ca's NSString's stringWithString:(fp))'s ¬
            stringByStandardizingPath
        set {bool, nse} to ca's NSFileManager's ¬
            defaultManager's createDirectoryAtPath:(oPath) ¬
            withIntermediateDirectories:(blnParents) ¬
            attributes:(missing value) |error|:(e)
        if bool then
            just(fp)
        else
            nothing((localizedDescription of nse) as string)
        end if
    end if
end createDirectoryIfMissingMay

-- TEST ----------------------------------------------------------------------
on run
    
    createOrFindDirectoryMay("~/Desktop/Notes/today")
    
end run

-- GENERIC FUNCTIONS ---------------------------------------------------------

-- doesPathExist :: FilePath -> IO Bool
on doesPathExist(strPath)
    set ca to current application
    ca's NSFileManager's defaultManager's ¬
        fileExistsAtPath:((ca's NSString's ¬
            stringWithString:strPath)'s ¬
            stringByStandardizingPath)
end doesPathExist

-- just :: a -> Just a
on just(x)
    {nothing:false, just:x}
end just

-- nothing :: () -> Nothing
on nothing(msg)
    {nothing:true, msg:msg}
end nothing

Arturo

write.directory "path/to/some/directory" ø

AWK

# syntax: GAWK -f MAKE_DIRECTORY_PATH.AWK path ...
BEGIN {
    for (i=1; i<=ARGC-1; i++) {
      path = ARGV[i]
      msg = (make_dir_path(path) == 0) ? "created" : "exists"
      printf("'%s' %s\n",path,msg)
    }
    exit(0)
}
function make_dir_path(path,  cmd) {
#   cmd = sprintf("mkdir -p '%s'",path) # Unix
    cmd = sprintf("MKDIR \"%s\" 2>NUL",path) # MS-Windows
    return system(cmd)
}

sample command and output under Windows 8:

GAWK -f MAKE_DIRECTORY_PATH.AWK \TEMP\A \TEMP\A "\TEMP\A\B C"

'\TEMP\A' created
'\TEMP\A' exists
'\TEMP\A\B C' created

C

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <libgen.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <sys/stat.h>
#include <sys/types.h>

int main (int argc, char **argv) {
    char *str, *s;
    struct stat statBuf;

    if (argc != 2) {
        fprintf (stderr, "usage: %s <path>\n", basename (argv[0]));
        exit (1);
    }
    s = argv[1];
    while ((str = strtok (s, "/")) != NULL) {
        if (str != s) {
            str[-1] = '/';
        }
        if (stat (argv[1], &statBuf) == -1) {
            mkdir (argv[1], 0);
        } else {
            if (! S_ISDIR (statBuf.st_mode)) {
                fprintf (stderr, "couldn't create directory %s\n", argv[1]);
                exit (1);
            }
        }
        s = NULL;
    }
    return 0;
}

C#

System.IO.Directory.CreateDirectory(path)

C++

#include <filesystem>
#include <iostream>

namespace fs = std::filesystem;

int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
	if(argc != 2)
	{
		std::cout << "usage: mkdir <path>\n";
		return -1;
	}

	fs::path pathToCreate(argv[1]);

	if (fs::exists(pathToCreate))
		return 0;

	if (fs::create_directories(pathToCreate))
		return 0;
	else
	{
		std::cout << "couldn't create directory: " << pathToCreate.string() << std::endl;
		return -1;
	}
}

Clojure

(defn mkdirp [path]
  (let [dir (java.io.File. path)]
    (if (.exists dir)
      true
      (.mkdirs dir))))

Common Lisp

(ensure-directories-exist "your/path/name")

D

import std.stdio;

void main() {
    makeDir("parent/test");
}

/// Manual implementation of what mkdirRecurse in std.file does.
void makeDir(string path) out {
    import std.exception : enforce;
    import std.file : exists;
    enforce(path.exists, "Failed to create the requested directory.");
} body {
    import std.array : array;
    import std.file;
    import std.path : pathSplitter, chainPath;

    auto workdir = "";
    foreach (dir; path.pathSplitter) {
        workdir = chainPath(workdir, dir).array;
        if (workdir.exists) {
            if (!workdir.isDir) {
                import std.conv : text;
                throw new FileException(text("The file ", workdir, " in the path ", path, " is not a directory."));
            }
        } else {
            workdir.mkdir();
        }
    }
}

Delphi

Library: System.SysUtils

Library: System.IOUtils

program Make_directory_path;

{$APPTYPE CONSOLE}

uses
  System.SysUtils,
  System.IOUtils;

const
  Path1 = '.\folder1\folder2\folder3'; // windows relative path (others OS formats are acepted)
  Path2 = 'folder4\folder5\folder6';

begin
  // "ForceDirectories" work with relative path if start with "./"
  if ForceDirectories(Path1) then
    Writeln('Created "', path1, '" sucessfull.');

  // "TDirectory.CreateDirectory" work with any path format
  //  but don't return sucess, requere "TDirectory.Exists" to check
  TDirectory.CreateDirectory(Path2);
  if TDirectory.Exists(Path2) then
    Writeln('Created "', path2, '" sucessfull.');
  Readln;
end.

Elixir

Tries to create the directory `path`. Missing parent directories are created.

File.mkdir_p("./path/to/dir")

ERRE

ERRE has the procedure "OS_MKDIR" in PC.LIB standard library, that creates a directory with all missing parents. Existing directory are simply ignored.

OS_MKDIR("C:\EXAMPLES\03192015")

F#

The library function System.IO.Directory.CreateDirectory also returns a DirectoryInfo object of the deepest directory in the path.

In the F# REPL:

Output:

> System.IO.Directory.CreateDirectory (System.IO.Directory.GetCurrentDirectory())
;;
val it : System.IO.DirectoryInfo =
  Temp {Attributes = Directory;
        CreationTime = 2016-06-01 04:12:25;
        CreationTimeUtc = 2016-06-01 02:12:25;
        Exists = true;
        Extension = "";
        FullName = "C:\Users\Kai\AppData\Local\Temp";
        LastAccessTime = 2016-08-18 20:42:21;
        LastAccessTimeUtc = 2016-08-18 18:42:21;
        LastWriteTime = 2016-08-18 20:42:21;
        LastWriteTimeUtc = 2016-08-18 18:42:21;
        Name = "Temp";
        Parent = Local;
        Root = C:\;}
> 

Factor

The make-directories word performs this task. Note the value of current-directory is used as the base directory if a relative pathname is given.

USE: io.directories
"path/to/dir" make-directories

The implementation of make-directories:

USING: combinators.short-circuit io.backend io.files
io.pathnames kernel sequences ;
IN: io.directories
: make-directories ( path -- )
    normalize-path trim-tail-separators dup
    { [ "." = ] [ root-directory? ] [ empty? ] [ exists? ] } 1||
    [ make-parent-directories dup make-directory ] unless drop ;

FreeBASIC

#ifdef __FB_WIN32__
    Dim pathname As String = "Ring\docs"
#else
    Dim pathname As String = "Ring/docs"
#endif

Dim As String mkpathname = "mkdir " & pathname
Dim result As Long = Shell (mkpathname)

If result = 0 Then
    Print "Created the directory..."
    Chdir(pathname)
    Print Curdir
Else
    Print "error: unable to create folder " & pathname & " in the current path."
End If
Sleep

FutureBasic

FileManager

void local fn MakeDirectoryPath
  CFStringRef path = fn StringByExpandingTildeInPath( @"~/Desktop/FirstDir/SecondDir" )
  fn FileManagerCreateDirectoryAtURL( fn URLFileURLWithPath(path), YES, NULL )
end fn

fn MakeDirectoryPath

HandleEvents

UNIX

void local fn MakeDirectoryPath
  Str255 cmd
  cmd = "mkdir -p " + fn StringPascalString( fn StringByExpandingTildeInPath( @"~/Desktop/FirstDir/SecondDir" ) )
  open "UNIX", 2, cmd
end fn

fn MakeDirectoryPath

HandleEvents

UNIX via Task

void local fn MakeDirectoryPath
  TaskRef task = fn TaskInit
  TaskSetExecutableURL( task, fn URLFileURLWithPath( @"bin/mkdir" ) )
  TaskSetArguments( task, @[@"-p",fn StringByExpandingTildeInPath( @"~/Desktop/FirstDir/SecondDir" )] )
  fn TaskLaunch( task, NULL )
end fn

fn MakeDirectoryPath

HandleEvents

Gambas

Public Sub Form_Open()

If Not Exist(User.home &/ "TestFolder") Then Mkdir User.Home &/ "TestFolder"

End

Go

The standard packages include os.MkdirAll which does exactly this (and its source is also available via that link).

	os.MkdirAll("/tmp/some/path/to/dir", 0770)

Haskell

import System.Directory (createDirectory, setCurrentDirectory)
import Data.List.Split  (splitOn)

main :: IO ()
main = do
  let path = splitOn "/" "path/to/dir"
  mapM_ (\x -> createDirectory x >> setCurrentDirectory x) path

J

The verb pathcreate in the addon package general/dirutils will create any non-existing directories in a path. It works on Windows, Linux and OS X.

require 'general/dirutils'
pathcreate '/tmp/some/path/to/dir'

Code is similar to the following:

pathcreate=: monad define
  todir=. termsep_j_ jpathsep y
  todirs=. }. ,each /\ <;.2 todir  NB. base dirs
  msk=. -.direxist todirs          NB. 1 for each non-existing dir
  msk=. 0 (i. msk i: 0)}msk
  dircreate msk#todirs             NB. create non-existing base dirs
)

dircreate=: monad define
  y=. boxxopen y
  msk=. -.direxist y
  if. ''-:$msk do. msk=. (#y)#msk end.
  res=. 1!:5 msk#y
  msk #inv ,res
)

direxist=: 2 = ftype&>@:boxopen

Java

The Java method for this is mkdirs and can be found in java.io.File. The source is in the src.zip of the JDK root directory.

import java.io.File;

public interface Test {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        try {
            File f = new File("C:/parent/test");
            if (f.mkdirs())
                System.out.println("path successfully created");
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

JavaScript

Works with: Node.js

Simplified version of the popular mkdirp library:

var path = require('path');
var fs = require('fs');

function mkdirp (p, cb) {
    cb = cb || function () {};
    p = path.resolve(p);

    fs.mkdir(p, function (er) {
        if (!er) {
            return cb(null);
        }
        switch (er.code) {
            case 'ENOENT':
                // The directory doesn't exist. Make its parent and try again.
                mkdirp(path.dirname(p), function (er) {
                    if (er) cb(er);
                    else mkdirp(p, cb);
                });
                break;

                // In the case of any other error, something is borked.
            default:
                cb(er);
                break;
        }
    });
}

Julia

Works with: Julia version 0.6

mkpath("/tmp/unusefuldir/helloworld.d/test123")

Kotlin

// version 1.0.6

import java.io.File

fun main(args: Array<String>) {
    // using built-in mkdirs() method
    val success = File("./path/to/dir").mkdirs()
    if (success) println("Directory path was created successfully")
    else         println("Failed to create directory path")
}

Output:

Directory path was created successfully

Lua

The ubiquitous luafilesystem module contains lfs.mkdir but this does not have an option equivalent to the posix mkdir -p. Instead, the function shown here uses package.config to determine the correct directory separator for the OS and then iterates over the path string to create each individual folder in turn.

require("lfs")

function mkdir (path)
  local sep, pStr = package.config:sub(1, 1), ""
  for dir in path:gmatch("[^" .. sep .. "]+") do
    pStr = pStr .. dir .. sep
    lfs.mkdir(pStr)
  end
end

mkdir("C:\\path\\to\\dir") -- Quoting backslashes requires escape sequence

Note that attempting to run lfs.mkdir for a path that already exists writes no changes to disk and returns nil.

Mathematica/Wolfram Language

Creates directory specified by path, creating intermediate directories as necessary, and never fails if path already exists.

mkdirp[path_] := Quiet[CreateDirectory[path,{CreateIntermediateDirectories->True}],{CreateDirectory::filex}]

NewLISP

(define (mkdir-p mypath)
    (if (= "/" (mypath 0)) ;; Abs or relative path?
        (setf /? "/")
        (setf /? "")
    )
    (setf path-components (clean empty? (parse mypath "/"))) ;; Split path and remove empty elements
    (for (x 0 (length path-components))
        (setf walking-path (string /? (join (slice path-components 0 (+ 1 x)) "/")))
        (make-dir walking-path)
    )
)

;; Using user-made function...
(mkdir-p "/tmp/rosetta/test1")

;; ... or calling OS command directly.
(! "mkdir -p /tmp/rosetta/test2")
(exit)

Nim

Note that the procedure "createDir" used here doesn’t raise an exception if the directory already exists because for current situations this is not an error. An exception is raised if the directory doesn’t exist after the call, if, for instance, permission is not allowed to create the directory.

import os

try:
  createDir("./path/to/dir")
  echo "Directory now exists."
except OSError:
  echo "Failed to create the directory."

Objeck

class Program {
  function : Main(args : String[]) ~ Nil {
    System.IO.File.Directory->CreatePath("your/path/name")->PrintLine();
  }
}

OCaml

let rec mkdir_p path perm =
 if path <> "" then
    try Unix.mkdir path perm with
    | Unix.Unix_error (EEXIST, _, _) when Sys.is_directory path -> ()
    | Unix.Unix_error (ENOENT, _, _) ->
      mkdir_p (Filename.dirname path) perm;
      Unix.mkdir path perm

Requires the standard unix library

Perl

Using the File::Path core module:

use File::Path qw(make_path);

make_path('path/to/dir')

Phix

There's a builtin for that

without js -- (file i/o)
if not create_directory("myapp/interface/letters") then
    crash("Filesystem problem - could not create the new folder")
end if

The implementation in builtins/pfile.e is as follows (see there for initf() etc):

global function create_directory(string name, integer mode=0o700, bool make_parent=true)

    if not finit then initf() end if

    assert(length(name)!=0)
    name = get_proper_path(name)

    -- Remove any trailing slash.
    if name[$]=SLASH then
        name = name[1..$-1]
    end if

    if make_parent then
        integer pos = rfind(SLASH, name)
        if pos!=0 then
            string parent = name[1..pos-1]
            if file_exists(parent) then
                assert(file_type(parent)==FILETYPE_DIRECTORY)
            else
                if not create_directory(parent, mode, make_parent) then
                    return 0
                end if
            end if
        end if
    end if

    bool ret
    if platform()=LINUX then

        ret = not c_func(xCreateDirectory, {name, mode})

    elsif platform()=WINDOWS then

        ret = c_func(xCreateDirectory, {name, 0})

    end if

    return ret
end function

Of course you could also use system("mkdir -p path/to/dir") or whatever.

PicoLisp

(call "mkdir" "-p" "path/to/dir")

PowerShell

New-Item -Path ".\path\to\dir" -ItemType Directory -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Python

from errno import EEXIST
from os import mkdir, curdir
from os.path import split, exists

def mkdirp(path, mode=0777):
    head, tail = split(path)
    if not tail:
        head, tail = split(head)
    if head and tail and not exists(head):
        try:
            mkdirp(head, mode)
        except OSError as e:
            # be happy if someone already created the path
            if e.errno != EEXIST:
                raise
        if tail == curdir:  # xxx/newdir/. exists if xxx/newdir exists
            return
    try:
        mkdir(path, mode)
    except OSError as e:
        # be happy if someone already created the path
        if e.errno != EEXIST:
            raise

Above is a modified version of the standard library's os.makedirs, for pedagogical purposes. In practice, you would be more likely to use the standard library call:

def mkdirp(path):
    try:
        os.makedirs(path)
    except OSError as exc: # Python >2.5
        if exc.errno == errno.EEXIST and os.path.isdir(path):
            pass
        else: raise

In Python3 this becomes even simpler:

def mkdirp(path):
    os.makedirs(path, exist_ok=True)

Racket

Uses make-directory* (NB the star — that causes the intermediate directories to be produced).

Canonical documentation at Racket Documentation for Filesystem

Creates directory specified by path, creating intermediate

directories as necessary, and never failing if path exists already.

#lang racket
(define path-str "/tmp/woo/yay")
(define path/..-str "/tmp/woo")

;; clean up from a previous run
(when (directory-exists? path-str)
  (delete-directory path-str)
  (delete-directory path/..-str))
;; delete-directory/files could also be used -- but that requires goggles and rubber
;; gloves to handle safely!

(define (report-path-exists)
  (printf "~s exists (as a directory?):~a~%~s exists (as a directory?):~a~%~%"
          path/..-str (directory-exists? path/..-str)
          path-str (directory-exists? path-str)))

(report-path-exists)

;; Really ... this is the only bit that matters!
(make-directory* path-str)

(report-path-exists)

Output:

"/tmp/woo" exists (as a directory?):#f
"/tmp/woo/yay" exists (as a directory?):#f

"/tmp/woo" exists (as a directory?):#t
"/tmp/woo/yay" exists (as a directory?):#t

Raku

(formerly Perl 6)

Works with: rakudo version 2016.06

There is a built-in function for this:

mkdir 'path/to/dir'

Alternatively, a custom solution (as per task description) that only uses the built-in mkdir non-recursively. The "triangle reduce" meta-operator [\ ] is used get the intermediate results of a left fold with the comma operator on the list of path elements.

for [\,] $*SPEC.splitdir("../path/to/dir") -> @path {
    mkdir $_ unless .e given $*SPEC.catdir(@path).IO;
}

REXX

The following works with any modern (Microsoft) Windows ® and/or DOS.

Operating system note:   all versions of Microsoft ® DOS require the use of a blackslash   [\]   instead of a forward slash   [/].

Usage note:   without the error messages being suppressed, the   MKDIR   command will issue an error message if the subdirectory (or its path) already exists.

/*REXX program  creates a  directory (folder)  and all its  parent paths  as necessary. */
trace off                                              /*suppress possible warning msgs.*/

dPath = 'path\to\dir'                                  /*define directory (folder) path.*/

'MKDIR'  dPath  "2>nul"                                /*alias could be used:  MD dPath */
                                                       /*stick a fork in it, we're done.*/

Ring

System("mkdir C:\Ring\docs")
isdir("C:\Ring\docs")

see isdir("C:\Ring\docs") + nl
func isdir cDir
     try
        dir(cDir)
        return true
     catch
        return false
     done

Ruby

require 'fileutils'
FileUtils.mkdir_p("path/to/dir")

mkdir_p also takes an array of pathnames instead of a single pathname as an argument. mkdir_p is aliased as: mkpath, makedirs.

Run BASIC

files #f, "c:\myDocs"		' check for directory
if #f hasanswer() then
   if #f isDir() then		' is it a file or a directory
    print "A directory exist"
    else
    print "A file exist"
   end if
 else
  shell$("mkdir c:\myDocs"    ' if not exist make a directory
end if

The following info about files / directory FILE ACCESSOR methods

1. handle HASANSWER() - Return non-zero if the file accessor has at least one

resulting row.

1. handle ROWCOUNT() - Return the number of rows returned.
2. handle NEXTFILE$() - Advance to the next row and return a comma delimited string for the next file (name, size, date, time, directory flag).
3. handle NEXTFILE$([delimExpr$]) - Like NEXTFILE$() but you get to specify the delimiter instead of a comma.
4. handle NAME$() - Return the name of the current file row.
5. handle SIZE() - Return the size of the current file row.
6. handle DATE$() - Return a string containing a formatted date for the current file row.
7. handle TIME$() - Return a string containing a formatted time for the current file row.
8. handle ISDIR() - Return non-zero if the current file row represents a directory instead of a file.
9. handle RESET() - Reset the file accessor back to the beginning so you can read through them again.
10. handle DATEFORMAT(template$) - Set the date format using a "mmm dd, yyyy" style template$.
11. handle TIMEFORMAT(template$) - Set the time format using a "hh:mm:ss" style template$.
12. handle ISNULL() - Returns zero (or false)
13. handle DEBUG$() - Returns the string "Files"

Rust

use std::fs;

fn main() {
    fs::create_dir_all("./path/to/dir").expect("An Error Occured!")
}

Scala

new java.io.File("/path/to/dir").mkdirs

Alternative (platform-independent) for the library function:

import java.io.File

def mkdirs(path: List[String]) = // return true if path was created
    path.tail.foldLeft(new File(path.head)){(a,b) => a.mkdir; new File(a,b)}.mkdir

mkdirs(List("/path", "to", "dir"))

Seed7

The library cli_cmds.s7i defines the function doMkdirCmd, which is used below.

$ include "seed7_05.s7i";
  include "cli_cmds.s7i";

const proc: main is func
  begin
    doMkdirCmd(argv(PROGRAM), TRUE);
  end func;

The library cli_cmds.s7i defines also doMkdir (Make directories like the Unix mkdir command) and doMd (Make directories like the DOS md command). This functions read the parameters and options from a string. The reading is done according to Unix respectively DOS/Windows rules. The function doMkdir is used in the alternate solution below:

$ include "seed7_05.s7i";
  include "cli_cmds.s7i";

const proc: main is func
  local
    var string: parameters is "";
  begin
    parameters := join(argv(PROGRAM), " ");
    doMkdir(parameters);
  end func;

Sidef

Dir.new(Dir.cwd, "path", "to", "dir").make_path;   # works cross-platform

Tcl

Tcl's built in file mkdir works exactly this way:

file mkdir ./path/to/dir

If a directory cannot be made (e.g., because it would involve making a directory with the same name as an existing file) the command will throw a trappable error, as normal for Tcl commands.

UNIX Shell

Works with: Bourne Again SHell

function mkdirp() { mkdir -p "$1"; }

Visual Basic .NET

Translation of: C#

Module Module1

    Sub Main()
        System.IO.Directory.CreateDirectory("some/where")
    End Sub

End Module

Wren

Library: DOME

Curiously, this can only be done at present from a DOME program. A minimal script to do it would be:

import "io" for FileSystem

class Main {
    construct new() {}

    init() {
        FileSystem.createDirectory("path/to/dir")
    }

    update() {}

    draw(alpha) {}
}

var Game = Main.new()

However, this functionality is expected to be added to Wren-cli in the next version. The code needed will be as follows:

import "io" for Directory

Directory.create("path/to/dir")

zkl

This is for Unix as zkl doesn't have a built in mkdir method.

System.cmd("mkdir -p ../foo/bar")

The system error code is returned (0 in this case).

fcn mkdir(path) { System.cmd("mkdir -p "+path) }

Output:

zkl: mkdir("../foo/bar")
0
zkl: mkdir("/foo/bar")
mkdir: cannot create directory ‘/foo’: Permission denied
256