Delimited Name Path Formatter

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.

A delimiter-separated name path needs escaping when a name contains the delimiter or a reserved control character.

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 names, 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 names, 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.path. Interpret false, null and empty lists using the distinctions below; they can be valid outputs.

Require a nonempty names list with nonempty strings. Escape backslashes, newline, carriage return, tab and the delimiter, then join with the single-character delimiter.^[1]

Input field	Meaning and representation	Accepted input
names	names.	List of strings; at most 128 entries
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.path	The path value under the stated formula or text convention.

json

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

Limitations and assumptions

The delimiter cannot be backslash or the letters n, r or t. This custom path format is not a filesystem, URI or shell path syntax.
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 Formatter — tool.io

Similar or alternative tools

Delimited Name Path Parser
Parse or format an abstract escaped-delimited name path with nonempty components; not a filesystem path normalizer.
Integer Set Token Formatter
Format finite bounded integer values as a canonical sorted brace-delimited set token, omitting duplicate values.