Trying to parse filename from selectInput(), can't split on "\"

Programming Questions

hondaman9..

Trying to parse filename from selectInput(), can't split on "\"

in Programming Questions • 1 year ago

I'm trying to extract the filename from a string loadPath (got from loadPath = selectInput() ). I need my user to load a file and then I background load other files that have the same filename but with a different extension. I therefore want to extract the filename and then issue a command to load the version with the different extension.

For example, if my user loaded image.jpg I'd like to also load image.png. I need to extract filename "image", append ".png" and load that.

I'm using

String[] qpath = splitTokens(loadPath,"\");

but Processing doesn't like "\" at all and won't let me split on that character. I wanted to split the path string into an array of pieces delimited by "\" and then I'd have the last array element which would be the filename.

Any suggestions as to a better way to get the filename, or how can I split a string on "\"?

Thanks in advance

Replies(4)

PhiLho

Re: Trying to parse filename from selectInput(), can't split on "\"

1 year ago

Backslash is a special character in a string, an escape character, used to make newlines, tabs and other special chars (\n, \t, etc.).
It can escape itself, so what you look for is "\\".
Alternatively, you can make a sketch working on all systems (those using / as path separator):

String loadPath = sketchPath;
String[] qpath = splitTokens(loadPath, System.getProperty("file.separator"));
println(sketchPath);
println(qpath);

Sergio Pa..

Re: Trying to parse filename from selectInput(), can't split on "\"

1 year ago

Thanks alot PhiLho, this will help me clean the clumsy workaround I made to make it work well on both Windows and Linux. :)

hondaman9..

Re: Trying to parse filename from selectInput(), can't split on "\"

1 year ago

Thanks (again) PhiLho - much appreciated. That does the trick.

Related to that (and rather than starting a new topic) on the input end of this I'm using loadPath = selectInput() to pop up the system file open dialog and let the user select the file. I can't find a way to filter on only the desired filetype. My user will be loading a SVG file, so I'd like them to only see *.svg files in the file open dialog. I can trap for a .svg file extension once it's selected, but would prefer to prevent the user from seeing other files rather than scolding them for loading the wrong file.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance

PhiLho

Re: Trying to parse filename from selectInput(), can't split on "\"

1 year ago

It pays to do a search on the Processing site (from Processing.org, not from the forum), as there are some treasures in the old forum (or the wiki, the reference, etc., all searched by Google):
http://processing.org/discourse/beta/num_1269983154.html

Oh, there is an answer from me...

Yes, that's a little cheating, I knew it was somewhere... (and actually somewhere in my code base).
Funnily, this little search was useful, I just forgot that invokeAndWait() worked/was useful in Processing.

Note: the code is actually a rewrite of Processing 1.5 (or before)'s selectInput or similar, with file selection injected.
checkParentFrame() seems to have disappeared in 2.0. Looks like it has been replaced, more or less, by selectFrame(). But it is not visible...

This version works in both 1.5.1 and 2.0:

import javax.swing.JFileChooser;
import javax.swing.filechooser.FileNameExtensionFilter;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
void setup()
{
size(500, 500);
String filePath = selectImage("Choose an Image");
println(filePath);
if (filePath != null)
{
PImage img = loadImage(filePath);
image(img, 0, 0);
}
else
{
exit();
}
}
File selectedFile;
protected String selectImage(final String prompt)
{
try
{
SwingUtilities.invokeAndWait(new Runnable()
{
public void run()
{
JFileChooser fileDialog = new JFileChooser();
fileDialog.setDialogTitle(prompt);
FileNameExtensionFilter filter = new FileNameExtensionFilter(
"JPG & PNG Images", "jpg", "png"
);
fileDialog.setFileFilter(filter);
int returnVal = fileDialog.showOpenDialog(null);
if (returnVal == JFileChooser.APPROVE_OPTION)
{
selectedFile = fileDialog.getSelectedFile();
}
}
});
return selectedFile == null ? null : selectedFile.getAbsolutePath();
}
catch (Exception e)
{
e.printStackTrace();
return null;
}
}

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