Here’s the list of 10 commands you should know.
10 File System CommandsThe list below follows this pattern:Command — Description — Equivalent macOS Shell CommandGet Infoos.
getcwd() — get the current working directory path as a string — pwdos.
listdir() — get the contents of the current working directory as a list of strings — lsos.
walk("starting_directory_path")— returns a generator with name and path info for directories and files in the the current directory and all subdirectories— no short CLI equivalentChange Thingsos.
chdir("/absolute/or/relative/path") — change the current working directory — cdos.
path.
join()—create a path for later use — no short CLI equivalentos.
makedirs("dir1/dir2") — make directory —mkdir -pshutil.
copy2("source_file_path", "destination_directory_path") — copy a file or directory — cpshutil.
move("source_file_path", "destination_directory_path") — move a file or directory — mvos.
remove("my_file_path") — remove a file — rmshutil.
rmtree("my_directory_path")— remove a directory and all files and directories in it —rm -rfLet’s discuss.
Get Infoos.
getcwd()os.
getcwd() returns the current working directory as a string.
That one is straightforward.
????os.
listdir()os.
listdir() returns the contents of the current working directory as a list of strings.
That one is also straightforward.
????os.
walk("my_start_directory")os.
walk() creates a generator that can return information about the current directory and subdirectories.
It works through the directories in the specified starting directory.
os.
walk() returns the following items for each directory it traverses:current directory path as a stringsubdirectory names in the current directory as lists of stringsfilenames in current directory as a list of stringsIt does this for each directory!It’s often useful to use os.
walk() with a for loop to iterate over the contents of a directory and its subdirectories.
For example, the following code will print all files in the directories and subdirectories of the current working directory.
import oscwd = os.
getcwd()for dir_path, dir_names, file_names in os.
walk(cwd): for f in file_names: print(f)That’s how we get info, now let’s look at commands that change the working directory or move, copy, or delete parts of the file system.
Change Thingsos.
chdir("/absolute/or/relative/path")This method changes the current working directory to either the absolute or relative path provided.
If your code then makes other changes to the file system, it’s a good idea to handle any exceptions raised when using this method with try-except.
Otherwise you might be deleting directories or files you don’t want deleted.
????os.
path.
join()The os.
path module has a number of useful methods for common pathname manipulations.
You can use it to find information about directory names and parts of directory names.
The module also has methods to check whether a file or directory exists.
os.
path.
join() is designed to create a path that will work on most any operating system by joining multiple strings into one beautiful file path.
????Here’s the description from the docs:Join one or more path components intelligently.
The return value is the concatenation of path and any members of *paths with exactly one directory separator (os.
sep) following each non-empty part except the last…Basically, if you are on a Unix or macOS system, os.
path.
join() sticks a forward slash (“/”) between each string you provide to create a path.
If the operating system needs a “” instead, then join knows to use a back slash.
os.
path.
join() also provides clear information to other developers that you are creating a path.
Definitely use it instead of manual string concatenation to avoid looking like a rookie.
????os.
makedirs("dir1/dir2")os.
makedirs() makes directories.
The mkdir() command also makes directories, but it does not make intermediate directories.
So I suggest you use os.
makedirs().
shutil.
copy2("source_file", "destination")There are many ways to copy files and directories in Python.
shutil.
copy2() is a good choice because it tries to preserve as much of the source file’s metadata as possible.
For more discussion, see this article.
Move thingsshutil.
move("source_file", "destination")Use shutil.
move() to change a file’s location.
It uses copy2 as the default under the hood.
os.
remove("my_file_path")Sometimes you need to remove a file.
os.
remove() is your tool.
shutil.
rmtree("my_directory_path")shutil.
rmtree() removes a directory and all files and directories in it.
Remove thingsCareful with commands that delete things!.You may want to print what will be deleted as a dry run with print().
Then run substitute in your remove function for print() when you’re sure it won’t delete the wrong files.
Hat tip to Al Sweigart for that idea in Automate the Boring Stuff with Python.
Here’s the full list one more time.
10 File System Commands RecapThe list below follows this pattern: Command — Description — Equivalent macOS BASH commandGet Infoos.
getcwd() — get the current working directory path as a string — pwdos.
listdir() — get the contents of the current working directory as a list of strings — lsos.
walk("starting_directory_path")— returns a generator with name and path info for directories and files in the the current directory and all subdirectories— no short CLI equivalentChange Thingsos.
chdir("/absolute/or/relative/path") — change the current working directory — cdos.
path.
join()—create a path for later use — no short CLI equivalentos.
makedirs("dir1/dir2") — make directory —mkdir-pshutil.
copy2("source_file_path", "destination_directory_path") — copy a file or directory — cpshutil.
move("source_file_path", "destination_directory_path") — move a file or directory — mvos.
remove("my_file_path") — remove a file — rmshutil.
rmtree("my_directory_path")— remove a directory and all files and directories in it —rm -rfWrapNow you’ve seen the basics of interacting with the file system in Python.
Try these commands in your IPython interpreter for quick feedback.
Then explain them to someone else to solidify your knowledge.
You’ll be less sore than if you had moved boxes of notebooks around your house.
????.But the exercise would have been good, so now you can hit the gym instead.
????️♀️If you want to go deeper, check out the free ebook Automate the Boring Stuff with Python.
If you want to learn about reading and writing from files with Python check out the open function.
Remember to use a context manager like so: with open(‘myfile’) as file: .
????I hope you found this intro to Python file system manipulation useful.
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Thanks for reading!.????.