AxlPath — Path Manipulation

See AxlSys — System Utilities for an overview of all utility modules including path manipulation.

Header: <axl/axl-path.h>

API Reference

Functions

char *axl_path_get_basename(const char *path)

Return the filename portion of a path.

axl-path.h:

Path manipulation: basename, dirname, extension, join, resolve. Handles both ‘/’ (Unix) and ‘' (UEFI) path separators. All allocated results are freed with axl_free().

Returns everything after the last separator (‘/’ or ‘'). Returns a copy of path itself if no separator is found. Caller frees with axl_free(). NULL-safe.

Parameters:

  • path – file path, or NULL

Returns:

newly allocated string, or NULL if path is NULL or allocation fails.

char *axl_path_get_dirname(const char *path)

Return the directory portion of a path.

Returns everything before the last separator. Returns “.” if no separator is found. Caller frees with axl_free(). NULL-safe.

Parameters:

  • path – file path, or NULL

Returns:

newly allocated string, or NULL if path is NULL or allocation fails.

const char *axl_path_extension(const char *path)

Return the file extension from a path.

Returns a pointer to the extension after the last dot in the basename portion of path. Ignores leading dots (e.g. “.bashrc” has no extension). NULL-safe.

Parameters:

  • path – file path, or NULL

Returns:

pointer into path (not allocated), or NULL if path is NULL or has no extension.

char *axl_path_join(const char *dir, const char *name)

Join a directory and filename with ‘/’.

Handles a trailing separator on dir. Caller frees with axl_free(). NULL-safe: returns NULL if either argument is NULL.

Parameters:

  • dir – directory path, or NULL

  • name – filename to append, or NULL

Returns:

newly allocated path, or NULL on failure.

int axl_path_resolve(const char *base, const char *relative, char *out, size_t size)

Resolve a relative path against a base directory.

Combines base and relative, normalizing “.” and “..” components. Both ‘/’ and ‘' are recognized as separators. If relative is absolute (starts with ‘/’ or ‘'), base is ignored. The output always uses ‘/’ separators.

Parameters:

  • base – base directory path

  • relative – relative path to resolve

  • out – output buffer

  • size – output buffer size

Returns:

AXL_OK on success, AXL_ERR on error (NULL args, buffer too small, or “..” underflow past root).

char *axl_path_companion(const char *anchor, const char *name)

Build a path to a file alongside another (the “companion” pattern: load jedec.json5 from the directory holding the binary that just started running, etc.).

Equivalent to axl_path_join with the dirname of anchor as the directory portion. Returns just name (joined with “.”/empty) if anchor has no directory component. NULL-safe.

Caller frees with axl_free.

char *cfg = axl_path_companion(axl_app_argv0(), "jedec.json5");
// load cfg if non-NULL
Parameters:

  • anchor – reference path (e.g. argv[0])

  • name – filename to place beside anchor

Returns:

newly allocated path, or NULL if either argument is NULL or allocation fails.

char *axl_resolve_data_file(const char *override_path, const char *name)

Resolve a sidecar data file by trying override → companion → cwd.

Standard lookup order for tools that ship optional sidecar JSON (jedec ID DB, vendor lists, board configs, etc.):

  1. If override_path is non-NULL and the file exists, use it.

  2. Companion path beside the running binary. Two anchors are tried in order: a. axl_app_image_path — canonical FILEPATH from EFI_LOADED_IMAGE_PROTOCOL. Reliable regardless of how the shell invoked the binary (basename vs full path, cwd-rooted vs absolute). b. axl_app_argv0 — the shell-supplied invocation string. Fallback for synthetic load contexts where the image path is unavailable.

  3. name as-is (current working directory).

Returns the first path that exists. Caller must axl_free() the returned string. The check uses axl_file_info, so the file must be readable at lookup time.

char *p = axl_resolve_data_file(
    axl_args_get_string(a, "jedec-file"),  // CLI override (may be NULL)
    "jedec.json5"
    );
if (p != NULL) {
    load_table(p);
    axl_free(p);
}
Parameters:

  • override_path – optional explicit path (may be NULL)

  • name – filename to resolve

Returns:

newly allocated path, or NULL if no candidate exists.

int axl_path_build_uefi(const char *volume, const char *subpath, char *out, size_t size)

Build a UEFI-style path with volume prefix.

Writes “VOLUME:SUBPATH” into out, converting forward slashes to backslashes. For example, axl_path_build_uefi(“fs0”, “/dir/file”) produces “fs0:\dir\file”.

Parameters:

  • volume – volume name (e.g. “fs0”)

  • subpath – subpath (forward slashes OK)

  • out – output buffer

  • size – output buffer size

Returns:

AXL_OK on success, AXL_ERR on error (NULL args or buffer too small).

char *axl_get_current_dir(void)

Get the current working directory.

Returns a UTF-8 copy. Caller frees with axl_free().

Returns:

current directory path, or NULL on error.

int axl_chdir(const char *path)

Change the current working directory.

Parameters:

  • path – directory path (UTF-8)

Returns:

AXL_OK on success, AXL_ERR on error.