Python os.path.relpath behavior

os.path, path, python

Solution

`os.path.relpath()` assumes that its arguments are directories.

>>> os.path.join(os.path.relpath(os.path.dirname('foo/bar/bar_file.txt'),
        os.path.dirname('foo/foo_file.txt')),
        os.path.basename('foo/bar/bar_file.txt'))
'bar/bar_file.txt'

Problem

I have a directory `bar` inside a directory `foo`, with file `foo_file.txt` in directory `foo` and file `bar_file.txt` in directory `bar`; i.e. ``` computer$ ls foo/ computer$ ls foo/ bar/ foo_file.txt computer$ ls foo/bar/ bar_file.txt ``` Using the python os.path.relpath function, I expect: ``` os.path.relpath('foo/bar/bar_file.txt', 'foo/foo_file.txt') ``` to give me: ``` 'bar/bar_file.txt' ``` However, it actually gives me: ``` '../bar/bar_file.txt' ``` Why is this? Is there an easy way to get the behavior I want? EDIT: This is on Linux with Python 2.7.3

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