How to get path to current exe file on Linux?

Question

The code below gives current path to exe file on Linux:

#include <iostream>
std::string getExePath()
{
  char result[ PATH_MAX ];
  ssize_t count = readlink( "/proc/self/exe", result, PATH_MAX );
  return std::string( result, (count > 0) ? count : 0 );
}
int main()
{
  std::cout << getExePath() << std::endl;  
  return 0;
}

The problem is that when I run it gives me current path to exe and name of the exe, e.g.:

/home/.../Test/main.exe

I would like to get only

/home/.../Test/

I know that I can parse it, but is there any nicer way to do that?

Your title is a bit misleading. The question is really about getting a directory given a file name. The fact that the file happens to be your executable is not important. — MSalters, May 29 '14 at 23:12
See also e.g. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10364877/c-how-to-remove-filename-from-path-string/10364907#10364907 — MSalters, May 29 '14 at 23:14

score 21 · Answer 1 · edited Jul 22 '20 at 16:52

21

dirname is the function you're looking for.

#include <libgen.h>         // dirname
#include <unistd.h>         // readlink
#include <linux/limits.h>   // PATH_MAX

char result[PATH_MAX];
ssize_t count = readlink("/proc/self/exe", result, PATH_MAX);
const char *path;
if (count != -1) {
    path = dirname(result);
}

edited Jul 22 '20 at 16:52

gregpaton08

383
3
7

answered May 29 '14 at 21:28

Antti Haapala -- Слава Україні

129,958
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321

@gregpaton08 thanks :D – Antti Haapala -- Слава Україні Jul 22 '20 at 16:53
1

The result array should be initialized "char result[PATH_MAX] = {}" because readlink does not add a null terminator and therefore in some cases without initialization this solution provides a wrong path. – TruckerCat Jun 17 '21 at 07:20

How to get path to current exe file on Linux?

1 Answers1