Organizing Files
Copying Files and Folders
shutil.copy(source, destination) will copy the file at the path source to the folder at the path destination.
>>> import shutil, os
>>> os.chdir('C:\\')
>>> shutil.copy('C:\\spam.txt', 'C:\\delicious')
'C:\\delicious\\spam.txt'
>>> shutil.copy('eggs.txt', 'C:\\delicious\\eggs2.txt')
'C:\\delicious\\eggs2.txt'
shutil.copytree(source, destination) will copy the folder at the path source, along with all of its files and
subfolders, to the folder at the path destination
>>> import shutil, os
>>> os.chdir('C:\\')
>>> shutil.copytree('C:\\bacon', 'C:\\bacon_backup')
'C:\\bacon_backup
Moving and Renaming Files and Folders
shutil.move(source, destination) will move the file or folder at the path source to the path destination and will
return a string of the absolute path of the new location.
>>> import shutil
>>> shutil.move('C:\\bacon.txt', 'C:\\eggs')
'C:\\eggs\\bacon.txt'
To avoid overwriting, rename file
>>> shutil.move('C:\\bacon.txt', 'C:\\eggs\\new_bacon.txt')
'C:\\eggs\\new_bacon.txt'
Permanently Deleting Files and Folders
os.unlink(path) will delete the file at path.
os.rmdir(path) will delete the folder at path. This folder must be empty of any files or folders.
shutil.rmtree(path) will remove the folder at path, and all files and folders it contains will also be deleted.
import os
for filename in os.listdir():
if filename.endswith('.rxt'):
os.unlink(filename)
import os
for filename in os.listdir():
if filename.endswith('.rxt'):
#os.unlink(filename)
print(filename)
Safe Deletes with the send2trash Module
Using send2trash is much safer than Python’s regular delete functions, because it will send folders and files
to your computer’s trash or recycle bin instead of permanently deleting them.
>>> import send2trash
>>> baconFile = open('bacon.txt', 'a') # creates the file
>>> baconFile.write('Bacon is not a vegetable.')
25
>>> baconFile.close()
>>> send2trash.send2trash('bacon.txt')
Walking a Directory Tree
import os
for folderName, subfolders, filenames in os.walk('C:\\delicious'):
print('The current folder is ' + folderName)
for subfolder in subfolders:
print('SUBFOLDER OF ' + folderName + ': ' + subfolder)
for filename in filenames:
print('FILE INSIDE ' + folderName + ': '+ filename)
print('')
Compressing Files with the zipfile Module
Reading ZIP Files
>>> import zipfile, os
>>> os.chdir('C:\\') # move to the folder with example.zip
>>> exampleZip = zipfile.ZipFile('example.zip')
>>> exampleZip.namelist()
['spam.txt', 'cats/', 'cats/catnames.txt', 'cats/zophie.jpg']
>>> spamInfo = exampleZip.getinfo('spam.txt')
>>> spamInfo.file_size
13908
>>> spamInfo.compress_size
3828
>>> 'Compressed file is %sx smaller!' % (round(spamInfo.file_size / spamInfo.compress_size, 2))
'Compressed file is 3.63x smaller!'
>>> exampleZip.close()
Extracting from ZIP Files
>>> import zipfile, os
>>> os.chdir('C:\\') # move to the folder with example.zip
>>> exampleZip = zipfile.ZipFile('example.zip')
>>> exampleZip.extractall()
>>> exampleZip.close()
>>> exampleZip.extract('spam.txt')
'C:\\spam.txt'
>>> exampleZip.extract('spam.txt', 'C:\\some\\new\\folders')
'C:\\some\\new\\folders\\spam.txt'
>>> exampleZip.close()
Creating and Adding to ZIP Files
>>> import zipfile
>>> newZip = zipfile.ZipFile('new.zip', 'w')
>>> newZip.write('spam.txt', compress_type=zipfile.ZIP_DEFLATED)
>>> newZip.close()
