Search code examples
c++macosunixdirectorypwd

Making c++ app use directory of file, not pwd

I am trying to run an application, app. I do this by running ./app in the directory of app. This application has a dependency, graphics/file.bmp. Everything works when I run ./app in that directory.

If I instead run from the parent folder, it can't find graphics/file.bmp when I run ./app_directory/app

What is the cleanest way to resolve this? I would like to cd into the directory of the file no matter where I am running the program from. I am on OSX and would be thrilled by a solution that works across all unix machines.

Solution

  • You can do this on the first line of main():

    chdir(dirname(argv[0]));

    dirname() removes the last path component from the input ("a/b/c" turns into "a/b") and if there is only one path component then it returns ".". Passing this return value directly into chdir() will change the working directory to the directory containing the binary.