RelativePath.java

package sg.atom2d.tools.map;

import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;

/**
 * this class provides functions used to generate a relative path
 * from two absolute paths
 * @author David M. Howard
 */
public class RelativePath {
  /**
   * break a path down into individual elements and add to a list.
   * example : if a path is /a/b/c/d.txt, the breakdown will be [d.txt,c,b,a]
   * @param f input file
   * @return a List collection with the individual elements of the path in
   * reverse order
   */
  private static List getPathList(File f) {
    List l = new ArrayList();
    File r;
    try {
      r = f.getCanonicalFile();
      while(r != null) {
        l.add(r.getName());
        r = r.getParentFile();
      }
    }
    catch (IOException e) {
      e.printStackTrace();
      l = null;
    }
    return l;
  }

  /**
   * figure out a string representing the relative path of
   * 'f' with respect to 'r'
   * @param r home path
   * @param f path of file
   */
  private static String matchPathLists(List r,List f) {
    int i;
    int j;
    String s;
    // start at the beginning of the lists
    // iterate while both lists are equal
    s = "";
    i = r.size()-1;
    j = f.size()-1;

    // first eliminate common root
    while((i >= 0)&&(j >= 0)&&(r.get(i).equals(f.get(j)))) {
      i--;
      j--;
    }

    // for each remaining level in the home path, add a ..
    for(;i>=0;i--) {
      s += ".." + File.separator;
    }

    // for each level in the file path, add the path
    for(;j>=1;j--) {
      s += f.get(j) + File.separator;
    }

    // file name
    s += f.get(j);
    return s;
  }

  /**
   * get relative path of File 'f' with respect to 'home' directory
   * example : home = /a/b/c
   *           f    = /a/d/e/x.txt
   *           s = getRelativePath(home,f) = ../../d/e/x.txt
   * @param home base path, should be a directory, not a file,
   * or it doesn't make sense
   * @param f file to generate path for
   * @return path from home to f as a string
   */
  public static String getRelativePath(File home,File f){
    File r;
    List homelist;
    List filelist;
    String s;

    homelist = getPathList(home);
    filelist = getPathList(f);
    s = matchPathLists(homelist,filelist);

    return s;
  }

  /**
   * test the function
   */
  public static void main(String args[]) {
    if (args.length != 2) {
      System.out.println("RelativePath <home> <file>");
      return;
    }
    System.out.println("home = " + args[0]);
    System.out.println("file = " + args[1]);
    System.out.println("path = " + getRelativePath(new File(args[0]),new File(args[1])));
  }
}