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The following was the code:

Directory[]
NotebookDirectory[]

The output was

"/media/Dataholder/final"

"/media/Dataholder/final/"

In the second case, there is a trailing "/" (I am on Mathematica 8 on Ubuntu)

Just curious, why is there a difference ? Is is specific to my machine ?

I found this when this was breaking the code, wherein I wanted to change the working directory to another one relative to the current directory, i.e. using 

simFldr = Directory[] <> "anotherSubDirectory"

Though this sounds trivial, the patchwork needed to get to that directory will be non trivial since I have a code which must work both on Windows and Unix.

Any smart solution to set the directory to a subdirectory ?

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    $\begingroup$ Maybe this is of help? Relative paths for portable notebooks in Mathematica - i.e. regarding the directory to work on both Windows and Linus, not as a reply to the difference between the two commands. $\endgroup$
    – Bernd
    Commented Jun 22, 2013 at 14:09
  • $\begingroup$ Bernd is right, ToFileName does not care about $PathnameSeparator. Moreover, notice that Directory[] is not the same as NotebookDirectory[] unless You SetDirectory@NotebookDirectory[], well, at least it is so on Win. $\endgroup$
    – Kuba
    Commented Jun 22, 2013 at 14:13
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    $\begingroup$ I suppose you can always use FileNameJoin. I usually stick with StringJoin though as it is so much easier to type. Anyway, an example: FileNameJoin[{"/Users/", "/Jacob"}]-> "/Users/Jacob" $\endgroup$
    – Jacob Akkerboom
    Commented Jun 22, 2013 at 15:00
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    $\begingroup$ Use FileNameJoin[{Directory[], "lala", "hey", "folder", "file.gif"}] and forget about it $\endgroup$
    – Rojo
    Commented Jun 22, 2013 at 16:47
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks @Rojo for the FileNameJoin. That solves it 'elegantly' $\endgroup$
    – my account_ram
    Commented Jun 28, 2013 at 9:00

1 Answer 1

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You can use FileNameJoin to assemble file names in a robust and platform-independent way. This will solve the difficulties with the trailing /.

You can also use AbsoluteFileName to bring a path to canonical form. This works only with paths that exist.

For example, to compare Directory[] and NotebookDirectory[], you can use

AbsoluteFileName@Directory[] === AbsoluteFileName@NotebookDirectory[]
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