Question

I want to check if a given String is a file or a directory, i’ve tried the methods isFile() and isDirectory() of the File class but the problem is that if the directory or file doesn’t exist these methods returns false, because as stated in the javadoc :

isFile() :

true if and only if the file denoted by this abstract pathname exists
and is a normal file; false otherwise

isDirectory() :

true if and only if the file denoted by this abstract pathname exists
and is a directory; false otherwise

Basically i need two methods without the exist clause …

So i want to test if the given string complies to a directory format or complies to a file format, in a multiplatform context (so, should work on Windows, Linux and Mac Os X).

Does exist some library that provide these methods ? What could be the best implementation of these methods ?

UPDATE

In the case of a string that could be both(without extension) by default should be identified as directory, if a file with that path does not exist.

Answer 1

Sounds like you know what you want, according to your update: if the path doesn’t exist and the path has an extension it’s a file, if it doesn’t it’s a directory. Something like this would suffice:

private boolean isPathDirectory(String myPath) {
    File test = new File(myPath);

    // check if the file/directory is already there
    if (!test.exists()) {
        // see if the file portion it doesn't have an extension
        return test.getName().lastIndexOf('.') == -1;
    } else {
        // see if the path that's already in place is a file or directory
        return test.isDirectory();
    }
}