Struct directories::BaseDirs

pub struct BaseDirs { /* fields omitted */ }

BaseDirs provides paths of user-invisible standard directories, following the conventions of the operating system the library is running on.

To compute the location of cache, config or data directories for individual projects or applications, use ProjectDirs instead.

Examples

All examples on this page are computed with a user named Alice.

use directories::BaseDirs;
if let Some(base_dirs) = BaseDirs::new() {
    base_dirs.config_dir();
    // Linux:   /home/alice/.config
    // Windows: C:\Users\Alice\AppData\Roaming
    // macOS:   /Users/Alice/Library/Preferences
}

Methods

impl BaseDirs

pub fn new() -> Option<BaseDirs>

Creates a BaseDirs struct which holds the paths to user-invisible directories for cache, config, etc. data on the system. The returned struct is a snapshot of the state of the system at the time new() was invoked.

Panics

Panics if the home directory cannot be determined. See home_dir.

pub fn home_dir(&self) -> &Path

Returns the path to the user's home directory.

Platform	Value	Example
Linux	$HOME	/home/alice
macOS	$HOME	/Users/Alice
Windows	{FOLDERID_Profile}	C:\Users\Alice

On Linux and macOS, this function uses std::env::home_dir to determine the home directory:

• Use $HOME if it is set.
• If $HOME is not set, the function getpwuid_r is used to determine the home directory of the current user.
• If this also fails, creation of BaseDirs panics.

On Windows, this function retrieves the user profile folder using SHGetKnownFolderPath.

All the examples on this page mentioning $HOME use this behavior.

pub fn cache_dir(&self) -> &Path

Returns the path to the user's cache directory.

Platform	Value	Example
Linux	$XDG_CACHE_HOME or $HOME/.cache	/home/alice/.cache
macOS	$HOME/Library/Caches	/Users/Alice/Library/Caches
Windows	{FOLDERID_LocalAppData}	C:\Users\Alice\AppData\Local

pub fn config_dir(&self) -> &Path

Returns the path to the user's config directory.

Platform	Value	Example
Linux	$XDG_CONFIG_HOME or $HOME/.config	/home/alice/.config
macOS	$HOME/Library/Preferences	/Users/Alice/Library/Preferences
Windows	{FOLDERID_RoamingAppData}	C:\Users\Alice\AppData\Roaming

pub fn data_dir(&self) -> &Path

Returns the path to the user's data directory.

Platform	Value	Example
Linux	$XDG_DATA_HOME or $HOME/.local/share	/home/alice/.local/share
macOS	$HOME/Library/Application Support	/Users/Alice/Library/Application Support
Windows	{FOLDERID_RoamingAppData}	C:\Users\Alice\AppData\Roaming

pub fn data_local_dir(&self) -> &Path

Returns the path to the user's local data directory.

Platform	Value	Example
Linux	$XDG_DATA_HOME or $HOME/.local/share	/home/alice/.local/share
macOS	$HOME/Library/Application Support	/Users/Alice/Library/Application Support
Windows	{FOLDERID_LocalAppData}	C:\Users\Alice\AppData\Local

pub fn executable_dir(&self) -> Option<&Path>

Returns the path to the user's executable directory.

Platform	Value	Example
Linux	$XDG_BIN_HOME or $XDG_DATA_HOME/../bin or $HOME/.local/bin	/home/alice/.local/bin
macOS	–	–
Windows	–	–

pub fn runtime_dir(&self) -> Option<&Path>

Returns the path to the user's runtime directory.

Platform	Value	Example
Linux	$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR	/run/user/1001/
macOS	–	–
Windows	–	–

Trait Implementations

impl Debug for BaseDirs

fn fmt(&self, f: &mut Formatter) -> Result

Formats the value using the given formatter.

impl Clone for BaseDirs

fn clone(&self) -> BaseDirs

Returns a copy of the value.

fn clone_from(&mut self, source: &Self)

Performs copy-assignment from source.