getCanonicalPath different from getAbsolutePath - adding "/private"

Question

As I understand the different getPath,getAbsolutePath and getCanonicalPath what I don't understand why does absolute path is different from Canonical path - in the Canonical path I see /private prefix which doesn't exist in absolute path

I run the below code in scala

object ScalaDemo {
    def main(args: Array[String]): Unit = {
      val dir = Files.createTempDirectory("test").toFile

      println("dir.getPath:" + dir.getPath)
      println("dir.getAbsolutePath:" + dir.getAbsolutePath)
      println("dir.getCanonicalPath:" + dir.getCanonicalPath)
   }
}

I got this output:

dir.getPath:/var/folders/fq/8q8jpphd2qb2_07p4h2kzn0m0000gn/T/test3084029786797422592
dir.getAbsolutePath:/var/folders/fq/8q8jpphd2qb2_07p4h2kzn0m0000gn/T/test3084029786797422592
dir.getCanonicalPath:/private/var/folders/fq/8q8jpphd2qb2_07p4h2kzn0m0000gn/T/test3084029786797422592

Can see that the Canonical path have /private prefix - Why is that?

I also run ls -al on the absolute path output to see if there is symlink but didn't find any. I'm using mac with scala 2.9.1

[Similar questions](https://www.google.com/search?sclient=psy-ab&btnG=Search&q=site%3Astackoverflow.com+java+argument+lengths+differ#q=site:stackoverflow.com+java+getCanonicalPath+getAbsolutePath) — DontKnowMuchBut Getting Better, May 14 '17 at 22:24
Do `ls -l /var`, `/var` refers to `private/var`. like luk2302 is saying — prayagupa, May 14 '17 at 22:24
@luk2302 you are so right! I didn't think to check the root folder (`/var`) - Thanks — Mzf, May 14 '17 at 22:24
@DontKnowMuchButGettingBetter I add this link in the question and it doesn't answer the question — Mzf, May 14 '17 at 22:26

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered May 14 '17 at 22:23

You should not run ls -al on the final path. If you were looking for a symlink you would have to step from the first folder downwards to the file. Luckily this process is quickly over since ls -la / yields amongst others:

lrwxr-xr-x@  1 root  wheel     11 Jan 11 14:16 var -> private/var

Meaning it is in fact a symlink and therefore the canonical paths "expands" the link.

getCanonicalPath different from getAbsolutePath - adding "/private"

1 Answers1