The string that is returned is the same as that returned by the getPath() method.
import java.io.File; public class MainClass { public static void main(String[] a) { File myFile = new File("C:" + File.separator + "jdk1.5.0" + File.separator, "File.java"); System.out.println(myFile.getParentFile()); System.out.println(myFile); } }