# std::filesystem::path::make_preferred

From cppreference.com
< cpp‎ | filesystem‎ | path

path& make_preferred(); |  | (since C++17)

Converts all directory separators in the generic-format view of the path to the preferred directory separator.

For example, on Windows, where \ is the preferred separator, the path foo/bar will be converted to foo\bar.

### Parameters

(none)

### Return value

*this

### Exceptions

May throw implementation-defined exceptions.

### Example

Windows can use / as a separator, but prefers \, so make_preferred converts the forward slashes to backslashes. On the other hand, POSIX does not use \ as a separator, because backslashes are valid filename characters — the Windows path on POSIX actually refers to a file with the name "a\\b\\c". For this reason the "separators" are not converted.

Run this code

    #include <filesystem>
    #include <iostream>

    int main()
    {
        std::filesystem::path
            windows_path("a\\b\\c"),
            posix_path("a/b/c");

        std::cout
            << "Windows path: "
            << windows_path << " -> "
            << windows_path.make_preferred() << '\n'
            << "POSIX path: "
            << posix_path << " -> "
            << posix_path.make_preferred() << '\n';
    }

Output:

    // on Windows
    Windows path: "a\\b\\c" -> "a\\b\\c"
    POSIX path: "a/b/c" -> "a\\b\\c"

    // on POSIX
    Windows path: "a\\b\\c" -> "a\\b\\c"
    POSIX path: "a/b/c" -> "a/b/c"

### See also

constexpr value_type preferred_separator [static] | alternative directory separator which may be used in addition to the portable /. On Windows, this is the backslash character \. On POSIX, this is the same forward slash / as the portable separator (public static member constant)

Retrieved from "https://en.cppreference.com/mwiki/index.php?title=cpp/filesystem/path/make_preferred&oldid=154538"