Why is path with '\' showed as '\\' ?

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Hi guys,

I'm programming an application with Java in Eclipse and I use a input-file which is given with a path (p.e. C:\Java\Test-Application\config.ini).

When I debugg this application, this path is written as:
C:\\Java\\Test-Application\\config.ini

Why does that happen? I don't really understand, why there are double-backslashes instead of one.

Thx for your help.
Painjofshem

Posted 2-Oct-11 22:57pm

epanjohura

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5 solutions

Solution 5

if you are using the path string with "\\" in another file path related operation then it wouldn't be a problem, the VM does that translation for you. However, if the path string is to be used just as another string for some other purpose then you can [replace] "\\" with "\"...

Cheers

Posted 11-Oct-11 22:05pm

I.explore.code

Comments

epanjohura 12-Oct-11 4:43am

Thanks gladiatron for your answer, but I already got it :P

I.explore.code 12-Oct-11 5:07am

ah! sorry my bad, didn't notice the "Solved" keyword against the question. No Problem mate, now you will never get stuck with this problem again ;)

Cheers...

epanjohura 12-Oct-11 5:11am

doesn't matter ;)

Solution 4

Hi guys,

I know that "\" is an escape character, but is there really no possibility to read it as a "normal" character?

I wanted to read a path (which is read out in a string) character by character and check whether one is a backslash.. but that only works if i put double backslashes in the path.

Hope you can help me!

Posted 9-Oct-11 19:34pm

epanjohura

Comments

André Kraak 10-Oct-11 2:38am

If you have a question about or comment on a given solution use the "Have a Question or Comment?" option beneath the solution. When using this option the person who gave the solution gets an e-mail message and knows you placed a comment and can respond if he/she wants.

Please move the content of this solution to the solution you are commenting on and remove the solution.
Thank you.

epanjohura 10-Oct-11 2:41am

Doesn't matter, I was the person who's written this question, so I will get all E-mail messages. But I'm not going to do something like this again. I'm sorry :S

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Herman<T>.Instance · Accepted Answer · 2011-10-02T23:02:00

Solution 1

the \ is seen as an escape character so you need \\ to tell java it is \

Posted 2-Oct-11 23:02pm

Herman<T>.Instance

Comments

Mehdi Gholam 3-Oct-11 5:04am

my 5!

Simon Bang Terkildsen 3-Oct-11 5:11am

What the hell, mine too ;)

epanjohura 3-Oct-11 5:05am

hmmm okaay, but what can I do to remove this double-backslashes? I want to make it possible to copy a path and put it in a input-file without change this adding another backslash. I didn't find any settings to change, so I thought I could try to programm it by my self..

Simon Bang Terkildsen 3-Oct-11 5:11am

You can't, it would be a serious bug if you could. The string would have changed and thus wouldn't be correct when it was reassigned to the variable.

epanjohura 3-Oct-11 5:15am

hm, damn..
thanks a lot :)

Espen Harlinn 3-Oct-11 17:53pm

5'ed!

Simon Bang Terkildsen · Accepted Answer · 2011-10-02T23:04:00

Solution 3

That's because \ is an escape character[^], e.g. when you want a new line in your string you would write \r\n thus you have to write \\ for your string to contain the character \.

Posted 2-Oct-11 23:04pm

Simon Bang Terkildsen

Updated 2-Oct-11 23:05pm

v2

Comments

epanjohura 3-Oct-11 5:07am

thank you, but is there any possibility to change that? (my comment on solution 1)

Espen Harlinn 3-Oct-11 17:54pm

5'ed!

P.Salini · Accepted Answer · 2011-10-02T23:04:00

Solution 2

'\' is a escape character
so to consider '\' in path as normal character and not escape character you need to use '\\'.
that why the debugger shows '\\'.

Posted 2-Oct-11 23:04pm

P.Salini

Comments

epanjohura 3-Oct-11 5:07am

thank you, but is there any possibility to change that? (my comment on solution 1)

P.Salini 3-Oct-11 5:14am

You cant remove it

Espen Harlinn 3-Oct-11 17:54pm

5'ed!