Delimited Name Path Parser

Parse or format an abstract escaped-delimited name path with nonempty components; not a filesystem path normalizer.

Description

Parse or format an abstract escaped-delimited name path with nonempty components; not a filesystem path normalizer.

An escaped name path must distinguish separators from delimiter characters inside a name.

When to use this tool

Parse or format an abstract escaped-delimited name path with nonempty components; not a filesystem path normalizer.

Prepare the supplied path, delimiter fields for this operation.
Compare the complete example with the representation used by your own input before carrying the result into another step.

How to use the tool and how it works

Enter path, delimiter. Use the exact text syntax, units and index conventions explained below.
Run the tool. If input validation fails, correct the supplied fields before interpreting any result.
Read result.names. Interpret false, null and empty lists using the distinctions below; they can be valid outputs.

Split using a single-character delimiter while decoding backslash escapes for backslash, n, r, t and the delimiter. Require every resulting name nonempty; reject dangling or unknown escapes.^[1]

Input field	Meaning and representation	Accepted input
path	path.	Text; at most 8,192 UTF-16 code units, subject to the grammar above
delimiter	delimiter.	Text; at most 8,192 UTF-16 code units, subject to the grammar above

Output field	Interpretation
result	Object containing the named outputs below.
result.names	The names list in the ordering and representation described above.

json

{
  "input": {
    "path": "a/b\\/c",
    "delimiter": "/"
  },
  "output": {
    "result": {
      "names": [
        "a",
        "b/c"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Limitations and assumptions

No filesystem resolution, URI decoding or shell expansion occurs. The delimiter cannot conflict with the reserved backslash escape spellings.
All declared input fields are required and unexpected top-level fields are rejected. Numbers must be finite; lists are limited to 128 entries and ordinary text fields to 8,192 UTF-16 code units, with tighter limits where stated.
JSON text inputs must parse within bounded nesting and size limits. Numeric outputs outside the safe finite range are rejected; large exact integer results use decimal strings. Indexes and half-open spans are zero-based unless a rank is explicitly described as one-based.

Alternative or Complementary methods

Use a parser for the actual target format when the task requires CSV, shell, URL, calendar or filesystem semantics. These tools implement the specific small grammars stated here, without adding those surrounding conventions.

References

Tool behavior and example: Delimited Name Path Parser — tool.io

Similar or alternative tools

Delimited Name Path Formatter
Parse or format an abstract escaped-delimited name path with nonempty components; not a filesystem path normalizer.
Name Value Token List Parser
Parse escaped-delimited name=value tokens at the first equals sign; preserves duplicates, empty names and untrimmed values.