Change the .gen_paths check on the

src/dataregistry/registrar/dataset.py

@@ -20,12 +20,11 @@
     _read_configuration_file,
     get_directory_info,
     _relpath_from_name,
-    get_first_directory,
 )
 from .dataset_util import set_dataset_status, get_dataset_status
 
 _ILLEGAL_NAME_CHAR = ["$", "*", "&", "/", "?", "\\", " "]
-
+_ILLEGAL_RELPATH_CHAR = ["$", "*", "&", "?", "\\", " "]
 
 class DatasetTable(BaseTable):
     def __init__(self, db_connection, root_dir, owner, owner_type, execution_table):
@@ -88,13 +87,24 @@ def _validate_register_inputs(
         # Only needed for `register` function, `replace` has no `relative_path`
         # argument as this cannot be changed from the original `register`
         if "relative_path" in kwargs_dict.keys():
-            if kwargs_dict["relative_path"] is not None:
-                first_dir = get_first_directory(kwargs_dict["relative_path"])
 
-                if first_dir is not None:
-                    if first_dir == ".gen_paths":
-                        raise ValueError("Can't start relative path with .gen_paths, "
-                            "this is reserved for auto-generated `relative_paths")
+            if kwargs_dict["relative_path"] is not None:
+                if type(kwargs_dict["relative_path"]) != str:
+                    raise ValueError("Relative path is not a valid string")
+
+                # Relative path cannot start with a "/"
+                if kwargs_dict["relative_path"][0] == "/":
+                    raise ValueError("Relative path cannot start with a '/'")
+
+                # Make sure `relative_path` is legal (i.e., no illegal characters)
+                for i_char in _ILLEGAL_RELPATH_CHAR:
+                    if i_char in kwargs_dict["relative_path"]:
+                        raise ValueError(f"Cannot have character {i_char} in relative path")
+
+                # The '.gen_paths' directory is reserved for autogenerated paths
+                if kwargs_dict["relative_path"].startswith(".gen_paths"):
+                    raise ValueError("Can't start relative path with '.gen_paths', "
+                        "this is reserved for auto-generated `relative_paths")
 
         # Assign the `owner_type`
         if kwargs_dict["owner_type"] is None:

src/dataregistry/registrar/registrar_util.py

@@ -351,30 +351,3 @@ def _relpath_from_name(name, version):
     """
 
     return os.path.join(".gen_paths", f"{name}_{version}")
-
-def get_first_directory(path):
-    """
-    Get back the root folder of a path
-
-    Parameters
-    ----------
-    path : str
-        Absolute or relative path string
-
-    Returns
-    -------
-    - : str
-        Root (or 1st) folder name
-        Returns None if path had no directory separators 
-    """
-
-    # Normalize the path and split it into components
-    parts = os.path.normpath(path).split(os.sep)
-
-    # Filter out any empty strings (in case of absolute paths starting with '/')
-    parts = [part for part in parts if part]
-
-    # Return the first part, which should be the first directory
-    if parts:
-        return parts[0]
-    return None

tests/end_to_end_tests/test_register_dataset_real_data.py

@@ -159,7 +159,8 @@ def test_registering_bad_relative_path_2(dummy_file, link):
 
     data_path = str(tmp_src_dir / link)
 
-    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="Can't start relative path with .gen_paths"):
+    # Test going into the '.gen_paths' folder (not allowed)
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="Can't start relative path with '.gen_paths'"):
         d_id = _insert_dataset_entry(
             datareg,
             f"DESC:datasets:test_registering_bad_relative_path_3_{link}",
@@ -169,6 +170,17 @@ def test_registering_bad_relative_path_2(dummy_file, link):
             relative_path=f".gen_paths/test/register/bad/relpath/{link}",
         )
 
+    # Test registering a file or directory as '.gen_paths' (not allowed)
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="Can't start relative path with '.gen_paths'"):
+        d_id = _insert_dataset_entry(
+            datareg,
+            f"DESC:datasets:test_registering_bad_relative_path_4_{link}",
+            "0.0.1",
+            old_location=data_path,
+            location_type="dataregistry",
+            relative_path=f".gen_paths",
+        )
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("link", ["file1.txt", "directory1"])
 def test_registering_deleted_relative_path(dummy_file, link):
     """

tests/unit_tests/test_registrar_util.py

@@ -186,20 +186,3 @@ def test_name_from_relpath(rel_path,ans):
     """Make sure names are extracted from paths correctly"""
 
     assert _name_from_relpath(rel_path) == ans
-
-@pytest.mark.parametrize(
-    "path,ans",
-    [
-        ("/testing/test", "testing"),
-        ("./testing/test", "testing"),
-        ("/testing/test/", "testing"),
-        ("test", "test"),
-        (".gen_paths/test", ".gen_paths"),
-        ("test/testing/tested", "test"),
-        ("/test/testing/tested", "test"),
-    ],
-)
-def test_get_first_directory(path,ans):
-    """Make sure the first directory is pulled out correct"""
-
-    assert get_first_directory(path) == ans