python: get directory two levels up

python path operating-system directory
jramm picture jramm · Jan 8, 2015 · Viewed 95.6k times · Source

Ok...I dont know where module x is, but I know that I need to get the path to the directory two levels up.

So, is there a more elegant way to do:

import os
two_up = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(__file__))

Solutions for both Python 2 and 3 are welcome!

Answer

Ffisegydd picture Ffisegydd · Jan 8, 2015

You can use pathlib. Unfortunately this is only available in the stdlib for Python 3.4. If you have an older version you'll have to install a copy from PyPI here. This should be easy to do using pip.

from pathlib import Path

p = Path(__file__).parents[1]

print(p)
# /absolute/path/to/two/levels/up

This uses the parents sequence which provides access to the parent directories and chooses the 2nd one up.

Note that p in this case will be some form of Path object, with their own methods. If you need the paths as string then you can call str on them.

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