File::Spec::Functions File::Spec - portably perform operations on file names use File::Spec; my ($volume, $dir_path, $file) = File::Spec->splitpath( $path ); $dir_path = File::Spec->canonpath( $dir_path ); A function interface might be easier to use: File::Spec::Functions use File::Spec::Functions qw[splitpath canonpath splitdir abs2rel]; # split a path into logical pieces my ($volume, $dir_path, $file) = splitpath( $path ); # clean up directory path $dir_path = canonpath $dir_path; # split the directories into a list my @dirs = splitdir $dir_path; # turn the full path into a relative path my $rel_path = abs2rel $path;