Java File path difference between getPath(), getAbsolutePath(), and getCanonicalPath()

https://docs.oracle.com/javase/1.5.0/docs/api/java/io/File.html

public class FilePathTest {



 public static void main(String[] args) {



  try {







   File f = new File("test.xml");



   System.out.println("----------File set to :test.xml----------");



   System.out.println("getAbsolutePath:" + f.getAbsolutePath());



   System.out.println("getCanonicalPath:" + f.getCanonicalPath());



   System.out.println("getName:" + f.getName());



   System.out.println("getPath:" + f.getPath());



   System.out.println("getParent:" + f.getParent());



   System.out.println("getParentFile:" + f.getParentFile());



   if (f.getParentFile() != null) {



    System.out.println("getParentFile().getAbsolutePath():" + f.getParentFile().getAbsolutePath());



    System.out.println("getParentFile().getCanonicalPath():" + f.getParentFile().getCanonicalPath());



   }







   f = new File("D:\\eclipse-ws\\20130307_WEB\\TestJava\\test.xml");



   System.out.println("\n" + "----------File set to :D:\\eclipse-ws\\20130307_WEB\\TestJava\\test.xml----------");



   System.out.println("getAbsolutePath:" + f.getAbsolutePath());



   System.out.println("getCanonicalPath:" + f.getCanonicalPath());



   System.out.println("getName:" + f.getName());



   System.out.println("getPath:" + f.getPath());



   System.out.println("getParent:" + f.getParent());



   if (f.getParentFile() != null) {



    System.out.println("getParentFile().getAbsolutePath():" + f.getParentFile().getAbsolutePath());



    System.out.println("getParentFile().getCanonicalPath():" + f.getParentFile().getCanonicalPath());



    System.out.println("getParentFile().getName():" + f.getParentFile().getName());



    System.out.println("getParentFile().getPath():" + f.getParentFile().getPath());



    System.out.println("getParentFile().getParent():" + f.getParentFile().getParent());



   }







   f = new File("test\\..\\.\\test.xml");



   System.out.println("\n" + "----------File set to :test\\..\\.\\test.xml----------");



   System.out.println("getAbsolutePath:" + f.getAbsolutePath());



   System.out.println("getCanonicalPath:" + f.getCanonicalPath());



   System.out.println("getName:" + f.getName());



   System.out.println("getPath:" + f.getPath());



   System.out.println("getParent:" + f.getParent());



   if (f.getParentFile() != null) {



    System.out.println("getParentFile().getAbsolutePath():" + f.getParentFile().getAbsolutePath());



    System.out.println("getParentFile().getCanonicalPath():" + f.getParentFile().getCanonicalPath());



    System.out.println("getParentFile().getName():" + f.getParentFile().getName());



    System.out.println("getParentFile().getPath():" + f.getParentFile().getPath());



    System.out.println("getParentFile().getParent():" + f.getParentFile().getParent());



   }



  } catch (IOException e) {



   // TODO Auto-generated catch block



   e.printStackTrace();



  }



 }



}

-------------------OUTPUT------------------------------------ ----------File set to :test.xml---------- getAbsolutePath:D:\eclipse-ws\20130307_WEB\TestJava\test.xml getCanonicalPath:D:\eclipse-ws\20130307_WEB\TestJava\test.xml getName:test.xml getPath:test.xml getParent:null getParentFile:null ----------File set to :D:\eclipse-ws\20130307_WEB\TestJava\test.xml---------- getAbsolutePath:D:\eclipse-ws\20130307_WEB\TestJava\test.xml getCanonicalPath:D:\eclipse-ws\20130307_WEB\TestJava\test.xml getName:test.xml getPath:D:\eclipse-ws\20130307_WEB\TestJava\test.xml getParent:D:\eclipse-ws\20130307_WEB\TestJava getParentFile().getAbsolutePath():D:\eclipse-ws\20130307_WEB\TestJava getParentFile().getCanonicalPath():D:\eclipse-ws\20130307_WEB\TestJava getParentFile().getName():TestJava getParentFile().getPath():D:\eclipse-ws\20130307_WEB\TestJava getParentFile().getParent():D:\eclipse-ws\20130307_WEB ----------File set to :test\..\.\test.xml---------- getAbsolutePath:D:\eclipse-ws\20130307_WEB\TestJava\test\..\.\test.xml getCanonicalPath:D:\eclipse-ws\20130307_WEB\TestJava\test.xml getName:test.xml getPath:test\..\.\test.xml getParent:test\..\. getParentFile().getAbsolutePath():D:\eclipse-ws\20130307_WEB\TestJava\test\..\. getParentFile().getCanonicalPath():D:\eclipse-ws\20130307_WEB\TestJava getParentFile().getName():. getParentFile().getPath():test\..\. getParentFile().getParent():test\..

• getPath() :will return the absolute or relative path of the File object, depending on which it was constructed with.
• getAbsolutePath(): will return the current directory name concatenated with the file separator character and the path name of the file
• getCanonicalPath(): will return a path name with the relative references resolved.