Question

How do I get the current file’s directory path?
I tried:

>>> os.path.abspath(__file__)
'C:\\python27\\test.py'

But I want:

'C:\\python27\\'

Answer 1

The special variable __file__ contains the path to the current file. From that we can get the directory using either pathlib or the os.path module.

Python 3

For the directory of the script being run:

import pathlib
pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.resolve()

For the current working directory:

import pathlib
pathlib.Path().resolve()

Python 2 and 3

For the directory of the script being run:

import os
os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))

If you mean the current working directory:

import os
os.path.abspath(os.getcwd())

Note that before and after file is two underscores, not just one.

Also note that if you are running interactively or have loaded code from something other than a file (eg: a database or online resource), __file__ may not be set since there is no notion of "current file". The above answer assumes the most common scenario of running a python script that is in a file.

References

1. pathlib in the python documentation.
2. os.path – Python 2.7, os.path – Python 3
3. os.getcwd – Python 2.7, os.getcwd – Python 3
4. what does the __file__ variable mean/do?