std::filesystem::current_path

Defined in header `<filesystem>`
path current_path();	(1)	(since C++17)
path current_path( std::error_code& ec );	(2)	(since C++17)
void current_path( const std::filesystem::path& p );	(3)	(since C++17)
void current_path( const std::filesystem::path& p, std::error_code& ec );	(4)	(since C++17)

Returns or changes the current path.

1-2) Returns the absolute path of the current working directory, obtained as if by POSIX getcwd. (2) returns path() if error occurs.

3-4) Changes the current working directory to p, as if by POSIX chdir.

Parameters

p	-	path to change the current working directory to
ec	-	out-parameter for error reporting in the non-throwing overloads

Return value

1-2) Returns the current working directory.

3-4) (none)

Exceptions

1-2) The overload that does not take a std::error_code& parameter throws filesystem_error on underlying OS API errors, constructed with the OS error code as the error code argument. std::bad_alloc may be thrown if memory allocation fails. The overload taking a std::error_code& parameter sets it to the OS API error code if an OS API call fails, and executes ec.clear() if no errors occur. This overload has

noexcept specification:

noexcept

3-4) The overload that does not take a std::error_code& parameter throws filesystem_error on underlying OS API errors, constructed with p as the first argument and the OS error code as the error code argument. std::bad_alloc may be thrown if memory allocation fails. The overload taking a std::error_code& parameter sets it to the OS API error code if an OS API call fails, and executes ec.clear() if no errors occur. This overload has

noexcept specification:

noexcept

Notes

The current working directory is the directory that is used as the starting location in path resolution for relative paths. Single current working directory is associated with entire process.

The current working directory is a dangerous global state of the program. Behavior of various file input/output related functions are affected by the value of the current path. The current path may be unexpectedly changed by any component of the program, including various external libraries or other threads.

Example

Run this code

#include <iostream>
#include <filesystem>
namespace fs = std::filesystem;
int main()
{
    std::cout << "Current path is " << fs::current_path() << '\n';
}

Possible output:

Current path is "D:/local/ConsoleApplication1"

Language
Standard library headers
Concepts
Utilities library
Strings library
Containers library
Algorithms library
Iterators library
Numerics library
Input/output library
Localizations library
Regular expressions library (C++11)
Atomic operations library (C++11)
Thread support library (C++11)
Filesystem library (C++17)
Technical Specifications