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gh-140971: Document pathlib.PurePath("") meaning and bool value #157293

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gh-140971: Document pathlib.PurePath("") meaning and bool value
terryjreedy Sep 11, 2026
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Address Stan's comments
terryjreedy Sep 21, 2026
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Merge branch 'main' into emptypathdoc
terryjreedy Sep 21, 2026
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10 changes: 7 additions & 3 deletions Doc/library/pathlib.rst
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Expand Up @@ -131,10 +131,13 @@ we also call *flavours*:
>>> PurePath(Path('foo'), Path('bar'))
PurePosixPath('foo/bar')

When *pathsegments* is empty, the current directory is assumed::
When *pathsegments* is empty or consists only of empty strings,
the current directory is assumed::

>>> PurePath()
PurePosixPath('.')
>>> PurePath(), PurePath('')
(PurePosixPath('.'), PurePosixPath('.'))

The boolean value of either expression is True.

@StanFromIreland StanFromIreland Sep 21, 2026

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This seems a little odd, in the current state I don't think it's helpful. Since PurePath doesn't define a __bool__ or __len__, it's always true.


If a segment is an absolute path, all previous segments are ignored
(like :func:`os.path.join`)::
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -1041,6 +1044,7 @@ Querying file type and status
.. method:: Path.exists(*, follow_symlinks=True)

Return ``True`` if the path points to an existing file or directory.
This includes empty paths, which Path interprets as the current directory.

@StanFromIreland StanFromIreland Sep 21, 2026

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Hmm, this seems a bit "wedged in" what about adding it to the examples, with a comment, instead?

>>> Path('').exists()  # the current directory
True

``False`` will be returned if the path is invalid, inaccessible or missing.
Use :meth:`Path.stat` to distinguish between these cases.

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