Python Programming

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File Handling

• Python supports file handling and allows users to handle files i.e., to read
and write files, along with many other file handling options, to operate on
files.
• The concept of file handling has stretched over various other languages,
but the implementation is either complicated or lengthy, but like other
concepts of Python, this concept here is also easy and short.
• Python treats files differently as text or binary and this is important. Each
line of code includes a sequence of characters and they form a text file.
• Each line of a file is terminated with a special character, called the EOL or
End of Line characters like comma {,} or newline character.
• It ends the current line and tells the interpreter a new one has begun.
Let’s start with the reading and writing files.

❖ Advantages of File Handling

➢ Versatility: File handling in Python allows you to perform a wide range

of operations, such as creating, reading, writing, appending, renaming,
and deleting files.
➢ Flexibility: File handling in Python is highly flexible, as it allows you to
work with different file types (e.g. text files, binary files, CSV files, etc.),
and to perform different operations on files (e.g. read, write, append,
etc.).
➢ User–friendly: Python provides a user-friendly interface for file
handling, making it easy to create, read, and manipulate files.
➢ Cross-platform: Python file-handling functions work across different
platforms (e.g. Windows, Mac, Linux), allowing for seamless integration
and compatibility.

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❖ Disadvantages of File Handling

➢ Error-prone: File handling operations in Python can be prone to

errors, especially if the code is not carefully written or if there are
issues with the file system (e.g. file permissions, file locks, etc.).
➢ Security risks: File handling in Python can also pose security risks,
especially if the program accepts user input that can be used to access
or modify sensitive files on the system.
➢ Complexity: File handling in Python can be complex, especially when
working with more advanced file formats or operations. Careful
attention must be paid to the code to ensure that files are handled
properly and securely.
➢ Performance: File handling operations in Python can be slower than
other programming languages, especially when dealing with large files
or performing complex operations.

❖ Working of open() Function in Python

Before performing any operation on the file like reading or writing, first,
we have to open that file.
For this, we should use Python’s inbuilt function open() but at the time of
opening, we have to specify the mode, which represents the purpose of
the opening file.

Syntax:

f = open(filename, mode)

The files can be accessed using various modes like read, write, or append. The
following are the details about the access mode to open a file.

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SN Access Description
mode

1 r It opens the file to read-only mode. The file pointer exists at the
beginning. The file is by default open in this mode if no access
mode is passed.

2 rb It opens the file to read-only in binary format. The file pointer

exists at the beginning of the file.

3 r+ It opens the file to read and write both. The file pointer exists
at the beginning of the file.

4 rb+ It opens the file to read and write both in binary format. The
file pointer exists at the beginning of the file.

5 w It opens the file to write only. It overwrites the file if previously

exists or creates a new one if no file exists with the same name.
The file pointer exists at the beginning of the file.

6 wb It opens the file to write only in binary format. It overwrites the

file if it exists previously or creates a new one if no file exists.
The file pointer exists at the beginning of the file.

7 w+ It opens the file to write and read both. It is different from r+ in

the sense that it overwrites the previous file if one exists
whereas r+ doesn't overwrite the previously written file. It
creates a new file if no file exists. The file pointer exists at the
beginning of the file.

8 wb+ It opens the file to write and read both in binary format. The
file pointer exists at the beginning of the file.

9 a It opens the file in the append mode. The file pointer exists at
the end of the previously written file if exists any. It creates a
new file if no file exists with the same name.

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10 ab It opens the file in the append mode in binary format. The

pointer exists at the end of the previously written file. It creates
a new file in binary format if no file exists with the same name.

11 a+ It opens a file to append and read both. The file pointer remains
at the end of the file if a file exists. It creates a new file if no file
exists with the same name.

12 ab+ It opens a file to append and read both in binary format. The
file pointer remains at the end of the file.

❖ Working in Read mode

There is more than one way to read a file in Python.
Example:

# Python code to illustrate read() mode character wise

file = open("topper.txt", "r")
print (file.read(5))

❖ Creating a File using the write() Function

Just like reading a file in Python, there are a number of ways to write in a
file in Python.
Let us see how we can write the content of a file using the write()
function in Python.
Example:

# Python code to create a file

file = open('Topper.txt','w')
file.write("This is the write command")
file.write("It allows us to write in a particular file")
file.close()

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Output:

This is the write command

It allows us to write in a particular file

❖ The close() method

• Once all the operations are done on the file, we must close it through our
Python script using the close() method.
• Any unwritten information gets destroyed once the close() method is
called on a file object.
• We can perform any operation on the file externally using the file system
which is the currently opened in Python; hence it is good practice to close
the file once all the operations are done.

Syntax:

1. fileobject.close()

Example:

1. # opens the file file.txt in read mode

2. fileptr = open("file.txt","r")
3.
4. if fileptr:
5. print("file is opened successfully")
6.
7. #closes the opened file
8. fileptr.close()

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❖ The with statement

• The with statement was introduced in python 2.5. The with statement is
useful in the case of manipulating the files.
• It is used in the scenario where a pair of statements is to be executed with a
block of code in between.

Syntax:

with open(<file name>, <access mode>) as <file-pointer>:

1. #statement suite

• The advantage of using with statement is that it provides the guarantee

to close the file regardless of how the nested block exits.
• It is always suggestible to use the with statement in the case of files
because, if the break, return, or exception occurs in the nested block of
code then it automatically closes the file, we don't need to write
the close() function. It doesn't let the file to corrupt.

Example:

with open("file.txt",'r') as f:
content = f.read();
print(content)

❖ The file related methods

The file object provides the following methods to manipulate the files on various
operating systems.

SN Method Description

1 file.close() It closes the opened file. The file once closed, it

can't be read or write anymore.

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2 File.fush() It flushes the internal buffer.

3 File.fileno() It returns the file descriptor used by the

underlying implementation to request I/O from
the OS.

4 File.isatty() It returns true if the file is connected to a TTY

device, otherwise returns false.

5 File.next() It returns the next line from the file.

6 File.read([size]) It reads the file for the specified size.

7 File.readline([size]) It reads one line from the file and places the file
pointer to the beginning of the new line.

8 File.readlines([sizehint]) It returns a list containing all the lines of the file.

It reads the file until the EOF occurs using
readline() function.

9 File.seek(offset[,from) It modifies the position of the file pointer to a

specified offset with the specified reference.

10 File.tell() It returns the current position of the file pointer

within the file.

11 File.truncate([size]) It truncates the file to the optional specified

size.

12 File.write(str) It writes the specified string to a file

13 File.writelines(seq) It writes a sequence of the strings to a file.

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