stanfordnlp/CoreNLP · error · IOException

Could not create directory <tgtDir.getAbsolutePath()>, as a…

Error message

Could not create directory <tgtDir.getAbsolutePath()>, as a file already exists at that path.

What it means

IOUtils.ensureDir(File) throws this IOException when the target path already exists but is a regular file (or other non-directory), so the directory cannot be created there. The message includes the absolute path of the conflicting file.

Solutions

1. Delete or rename the existing file at that path, or choose a different directory path, then call ensureDir again.
2. Before calling, check existence and kind: if the path exists and is not a directory, fail early with a clear message.
3. Fix the configuration/argument that supplies the path so it refers to the intended directory location.

Example fix

// before
IOUtils.ensureDir(new File(outputPath));
// after
File dir = new File(outputPath);
if (dir.exists() && !dir.isDirectory()) {
  throw new IllegalStateException("Path is a file, expected directory: " + dir.getAbsolutePath());
}
IOUtils.ensureDir(dir);

File dir = new File(path);
if (dir.exists() && !dir.isDirectory())
  throw new IllegalStateException("Path exists but is not a directory: " + dir.getAbsolutePath());

try {
  IOUtils.ensureDir(dir);
} catch (IOException e) {
  if (new File(path).isFile()) {
    throw new IllegalStateException("A file occupies the directory path: " + path);
  }
  throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling IOUtils.ensureDir(tgtDir) where tgtDir.exists() is true and tgtDir.isDirectory() is false — i.e. a regular file, symlink-to-file, or special file occupies the intended directory path.

Common situations: A previous run created the path as a file (e.g. a lockfile or a mistakenly written output file); a config value for a directory path accidentally points at a file; a symlink points to a file; Docker bind-mounts creating a file where a directory was expected.

Understand the failure class

Background: "already exists" / EEXIST / FileAlreadyExistsException: what the 'file already exists' error means and how to fix it — this error's family across 37 libraries.

Related errors

• cp: cannot copy to directory
• Could not open temporary feature index file for writing.
• Could not open temporary feature index file for reading.
• Could not create directory <tgtDir.getAbsolutePath()>
• cp: omitting directory

AI-assisted analysis of stanfordnlp/CoreNLP@1b7edd19c4 (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/407335c7526da516. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/edu/stanford/nlp/io/IOUtils.java:1742

      return new File("/"+machineName+"/scr1/"+username);
    } catch (Exception e) {
      return new File("./scr/"); // default scratch
    }
  }

  /**
   * Given a filepath, makes sure a directory exists there.  If not, creates and returns it.
   * Same as ENSURE-DIRECTORY in CL.
   *
   * @param tgtDir The directory that you wish to ensure exists
   * @throws IOException If directory can't be created, is an existing file, or for other reasons
   */
  public static File ensureDir(File tgtDir) throws IOException {
    if (tgtDir.exists()) {
      if (tgtDir.isDirectory()) {
        return tgtDir;
      } else {
        throw new IOException("Could not create directory "+tgtDir.getAbsolutePath()+", as a file already exists at that path.");
      }
    } else {
      if ( ! tgtDir.mkdirs()) {
        throw new IOException("Could not create directory "+tgtDir.getAbsolutePath());
      }
      return tgtDir;
    }
  }

  /**
   * Given a filepath, delete all files in the directory recursively
   * @param dir Directory from which to delete files
   * @return {@code true} if the deletion is successful, {@code false} otherwise
   */
  public static boolean deleteDirRecursively(File dir) {
    if (dir.isDirectory()) {
      for (File f : dir.listFiles()) {
        boolean success = deleteDirRecursively(f);

View on GitHub (pinned to 1b7edd19c4)