canonicalize_filename(3alleg4)

📦 version 4.4.3.1, in debian bookworm, debian trixie, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💖 canonicalize_filename — Allegro manual, but make it cute 💖

okay bestie, buckle up, this one's a little function from the Allegro game programming library and it's here to make your filenames behave. no cap.

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

#include <allegro.h>

char *canonicalize_filename(char *dest, const char *filename, int size);

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

So what does it do? It takes any filename and turns it into its canonical form, which is basically the glow-up version: the minimal absolute filename that describes the exact same file, and it also fixes up any incorrect forward/backward slashes so they match whatever platform you're actually on. iconic behavior honestly.

It stores at most size bytes into the dest buffer. 👑

And here's the part that lowkey slays: you can use the same buffer as both input and output, because Allegro internally works on a copy of the input before it ever touches dest. no conflict, no drama, we love a safe queen. 💅

Example, because a girl loves a demo:

char buf[256];
...
canonicalize_filename(buf, "~/../s22/..\\t3st///hi.c",
                      sizeof(buf));
/* Running this under Unix would
   return: /home/t3st/hi.c */
⚠️ but bestie, real talk — this function will not work as expected if the path you're canonicalizing comes from another platform. like, a "c:\something" path will canonicalize into something really wrong under Unix: "/current/path/c:/something". it's giving chaos. don't do it. 🫠

💫 RETURN VALUE 💫

It returns a copy of the dest parameter. that's it, that's the whole vibe. 🎀

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

and that's the whole page, bestie!! 🫶 this was Allegro version 4.4.3, dated alongside the canonicalize_filename(3alleg4) page itself — mwah, go fix those slashes, you've got this. 💜✨

📦 where this page comes from