How to use the clldutils.path.path_component function in clldutils

def _str_path(path, mkdir=False):
    """Get a file-system path as text_type, suitable for passing into io.open.

    Parameters
    ----------
    path : {text_type, Path}
        A fs path either as Path instance or as text_type.
    mkdir : bool (default=False)
        If True, create the directories within the path.

    Returns
    -------
    path : text_type
        The path as text_type.
    """
    res = Path(path_component(path))
    if mkdir and res.parent and not res.parent.exists():
        res.parent.mkdir(parents=True)
    return res.as_posix()