Node js check if path is file or directory

Question

I can t seem to get any search results that explain how to do this   All I want to do is be able to know if a given path is a file or a directory  folder

User · Answer

The answers above check if a filesystem contains a path that is a file or directory. But it doesn't identify if a given path alone is a file or directory.

The answer is to identify directory-based paths using "/." like --> "/c/dos/run/." <-- trailing period.

Like a path of a directory or file that has not been written yet. Or a path from a different computer. Or a path where both a file and directory of the same name exists.

// /tmp/
// |- dozen.path
// |- dozen.path/.
//    |- eggs.txt
//
// "/tmp/dozen.path" !== "/tmp/dozen.path/"
//
// Very few fs allow this. But still. Don't trust the filesystem alone!

// Converts the non-standard "path-ends-in-slash" to the standard "path-is-identified-by current "." or previous ".." directory symbol.
function tryGetPath(pathItem) {
    const isPosix = pathItem.includes("/");
    if ((isPosix && pathItem.endsWith("/")) ||
        (!isPosix && pathItem.endsWith("\\"))) {
        pathItem = pathItem + ".";
    }
    return pathItem;
}
// If a path ends with a current directory identifier, it is a path! /c/dos/run/. and c:\dos\run\.
function isDirectory(pathItem) {
    const isPosix = pathItem.includes("/");
    if (pathItem === "." || pathItem ==- "..") {
        pathItem = (isPosix ? "./" : ".\\") + pathItem;
    }
    return (isPosix ? pathItem.endsWith("/.") || pathItem.endsWith("/..") : pathItem.endsWith("\\.") || pathItem.endsWith("\\.."));
} 
// If a path is not a directory, and it isn't empty, it must be a file
function isFile(pathItem) {
    if (pathItem === "") {
        return false;
    }
    return !isDirectory(pathItem);
}

Node version: v11.10.0 - Feb 2019

Last thought: Why even hit the filesystem?

User · Answer

Depending on your needs  you can probably rely on node s path module   You may not be able to hit the filesystem  e g  the file hasn t been created yet  and tbh you probably want to avoid hitting the filesystem unless you really need the extra validation  If you can make the assumption that what you are checking for follows   lt extname gt  format  just look at the name    Obviously if you are looking for a file without an extname you will need to hit the filesystem to be sure  But keep it simple until you need more complicated   const path   require  path     function isFile pathItem      return   path extname pathItem

User · Answer

Update  Node Js    10  We can use the new fs promises API  const fs   require  fs   promises    async     gt        const stat   await fs lstat  test txt        console log stat isFile          catch console error      Any Node Js version  Here s how you would detect if a path is a file or a directory asynchronously  which is the recommended approach in node   using fs lstat  const fs   require  fs     let path     path to something    fs lstat path   err  stats    gt         if err          return console log err     Handle error      console log  Is file    stats isFile           console log  Is directory    stats isDirectory           console log  Is symbolic link    stats isSymbolicLink           console log  Is FIFO    stats isFIFO           console log  Is socket    stats isSocket           console log  Is character device    stats isCharacterDevice           console log  Is block device    stats isBlockDevice               Note when using the synchronous API      When using the synchronous form any exceptions are immediately thrown    You can use try catch to handle exceptions or allow them to bubble up    try       fs lstatSync   some path   isDirectory    catch e         Handle error    if e code     ENOENT           no such file or directory        do something     else          do something else

User · Answer

Here s a function that I use  Nobody is making use of promisify and await async feature in this post so I thought I would share   const promisify   require  util   promisify  const lstat   promisify require  fs   lstat    async function isDirectory  path      try       return  await lstat path   isDirectory          catch  e        return false          Note   I don t use require  fs   promises  because it has been experimental for one year now  better not rely on it

User · Answer

The following should tell you   From the docs  fs lstatSync path string  isDirectory      Objects returned from fs stat   and fs lstat   are of this type  stats isFile   stats isDirectory   stats isBlockDevice   stats isCharacterDevice   stats isSymbolicLink    only valid with fs lstat    stats isFIFO   stats isSocket     NOTE  The above solution will throw an Error if  for ex  the file or directory doesn t exist  If you want a true or false approach  try fs existsSync dirPath   amp  amp  fs lstatSync dirPath  isDirectory    as mentioned by Joseph in the comments below

User · Answer

Seriously  question exists five years and no nice facade   function is dir path        try           var stat   fs lstatSync path           return stat isDirectory          catch  e               lstatSync throws an error if path doesn t exist         return false

[node.js] Node.js check if path is file or directory

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