[universal directory] ways to find home directory and other common directories on different machines and operating systems #python #directory #os

universal_directory.py

import os 
import pathlib


# 1
# -------------------------------------------------
os.environ["ALLUSERSPROFILE"]
# The environment variable "ALLUSERSPROFILE" is available on Windows only. 
# On Windows returns
# 'C:\\ProgramData'

# 2
# --------------------------------------------------
os.path.expanduser('~\')
# This apparently works accross operating systems.
# On Windows this returns 'C:\\Users\\[User]/'

# 3
# -------------------------------------------------
str(pathlib.Path.home())
# The apparently works accross operating systems. It does rely on environment variables internally.
# API at https://docs.python.org/3.6/library/pathlib.html#basic-use 
# I like this
# On Windows this returns
# 'C:/Users/[User]'                   

# Also see [How to find the real user home directory using python? - Stack Overflow](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2668909/how-to-find-the-real-user-home-directory-using-python)
# 4
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------
def _get_reporoot():
    """Returns the absolute path to the repo root directory on the current
    system.
    """
    import package_name
    global reporoot
    if reporoot is None:
        medpath = path.abspath(gmf_models.__file__)
        reporoot = path.dirname(path.dirname(medpath))

    return reporoot
#