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How can I get the directory & file name of the current module?. In Node.js I would use: __dirname & __filename for that

Carson
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Marcos Casagrande
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1 Answers1

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In Deno, there aren't variables like __dirname or __filename but you can get the same values thanks to import.meta.url

On *nix (including MacOS), you can use URL constructor for that (won't work for Windows, see next option):

const __filename = new URL('', import.meta.url).pathname;
// Will contain trailing slash
const __dirname = new URL('.', import.meta.url).pathname;

Note: On Windows __filename would be something like /C:/example/mod.ts and __dirname would be /C:/example/. But the next alternative below will work on Windows.


Alternatively, you can use std/path, which works on *nix and also Windows:

import * as path from "https://deno.land/std@0.188.0/path/mod.ts";

const __filename = path.fromFileUrl(import.meta.url);
// Without trailing slash
const __dirname = path.dirname(path.fromFileUrl(import.meta.url));

With that, even on Windows you get standard Windows paths (like C:\example\mod.ts and C:\example).


Another alternative for *nix (not Windows) is to use a third party module such as deno-dirname:

import __ from 'https://deno.land/x/dirname/mod.ts';
const { __filename, __dirname } = __(import.meta);

But this also provides incorrect paths on Windows.

Marcos Casagrande
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    This didn't work for me on Windows, I found a working solution here: https://morioh.com/p/68bf0c73b2bb – hb20007 Dec 25 '20 at 19:13
  • Not working on Windows either - it generates paths with an incorrect leading space like `/C:/path/to/file.json` which `readTextFile` cannot understand. – Marc Oct 08 '21 at 09:58
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    @AndrewKoster At least now it works. – MEMark Dec 11 '21 at 21:33