pathseparator

Summary

The pathseparator macro returns the operating system’s path separator character used to separate entries in path lists like classpaths.

Syntax

${pathseparator}

Parameters

None - this macro takes no parameters.

Behavior

• Returns : (colon) on Unix/Linux/Mac systems
• Returns ; (semicolon) on Windows systems
• Returns the value of File.pathSeparator in Java

Examples

Get the path separator:

${pathseparator}
# Returns: ":" on Unix, ";" on Windows

Build a path manually:

classpath=lib/a.jar${pathseparator}lib/b.jar${pathseparator}lib/c.jar

Use in conditionals:

${if;${equals;${pathseparator};:};unix;windows}

Split paths:

${split;${pathseparator};${some.path}}

Use Cases

• Determining the platform at build time
• Manual path construction
• Splitting path strings
• Platform-specific logic
• Cross-platform path handling
• Tool configuration

Notes

• Returns a single character: : or ;
• This is different from the file separator (/ or \)
• Used for separating multiple paths (like in CLASSPATH)
• See also: ${separator} for the file separator
• See also: ${path} which automatically uses the correct separator
• The path separator is determined by the OS running the build

See test cases in MacroTestsForDocsExamples.java