Comparing two paths in python

Use os.path.normpath to convert c:/fold1/fold2 to c:\fold1\fold2:

>>> path1 = "c:/fold1/fold2"
>>> list_of_paths = ["c:\\fold1\\fold2","c:\\temp\\temp123"]
>>> os.path.normpath(path1)
'c:\\fold1\\fold2'
>>> os.path.normpath(path1) in list_of_paths
True
>>> os.path.normpath(path1) in (os.path.normpath(p) for p in list_of_paths)
True

• os.path.normpath(path1) in map(os.path.normpath, list_of_paths) also works, but it will build a list with entire path items even though there’s match in the middle. (In Python 2.x)

On Windows, you must use os.path.normcase to compare paths because on Windows, paths are not case-sensitive.