Set up, Search, and Again Up Information with Python’s Pathlib

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Python’s built-in pathlib module makes working with filesystem paths tremendous easy. In How To Navigate the Filesystem with Python’s Pathlib, we appeared on the fundamentals of working with path objects and navigating the filesystem. It’s time to go additional.

On this tutorial, we’ll go over three particular file administration duties utilizing the capabilities of the pathlib module:

• Organizing information by extension
• Looking for particular information
• Backing up vital information

By the top of this tutorial, you will have discovered methods to use pathlib for file administration duties. Let’s get began!

1. Set up Information by Extension

While you’re researching for and dealing on a mission, you’ll typically create advert hoc information and obtain associated paperwork into your working listing till it is a litter, and that you must set up it.

Let’s take a easy instance the place the mission listing incorporates necessities.txt, config information and Python scripts. We’d wish to kind the information into subdirectories—one for every extension. For comfort, let’s select the extensions because the identify of the subdirectories.

Set up Information by Extension | Picture by Writer

Right here’s a Python script that scans a listing, identifies information by their extensions, and strikes them into respective subdirectories:

# set up.py

from pathlib import Path

def organize_files_by_extension(path_to_dir):
    path = Path(path_to_dir).expanduser().resolve()
    print(f"Resolved path: {path}")

    if path.exists() and path.is_dir():
        print(f"The listing {path} exists. Continuing with file group...")
   	 
    for merchandise in path.iterdir():
        print(f"Discovered merchandise: {merchandise}")
        if merchandise.is_file():
            extension = merchandise.suffix.decrease()
            target_dir = path / extension[1:]  # Take away the main dot

            # Make sure the goal listing exists
            target_dir.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
            new_path = target_dir / merchandise.identify

            # Transfer the file
            merchandise.rename(new_path)

            # Examine if the file has been moved
            if new_path.exists():
                print(f"Efficiently moved {merchandise} to {new_path}")
            else:
                print(f"Failed to maneuver {merchandise} to {new_path}")

	  else:
       print(f"Error: {path} doesn't exist or is just not a listing.")

organize_files_by_extension('new_project')

The organize_files_by_extension() operate takes a listing path as enter, resolves it to an absolute path, and organizes the information inside that listing by their file extensions. It first ensures that the required path exists and is a listing.

Then, it iterates over all objects within the listing. For every file, it retrieves the file extension, creates a brand new listing named after the extension (if it would not exist already), and strikes the file into this new listing.

After shifting every file, it confirms the success of the operation by checking the existence of the file within the new location. If the required path doesn’t exist or is just not a listing, it prints an error message.

Right here’s the output for the instance operate name (organizing information within the new_project listing):

Now do this on a mission listing in your working setting. I’ve used if-else to account for errors. However you possibly can as nicely use try-except blocks to make this model higher.

2. Seek for Particular Information

Typically chances are you’ll not need to set up the information by their extension into totally different subdirectories as with the earlier instance. However chances are you’ll solely need to discover all information with a particular extension (like all picture information), and for this you should utilize globbing.

Say we need to discover the necessities.txt file to have a look at the mission’s dependencies. Let’s use the identical instance however after grouping the information into subdirectories by the extension.

In case you use the glob() technique on the trail object as proven to seek out all textual content information (outlined by the sample ‘*.txt’), you’ll see that it would not discover the textual content file:

# search.py
from pathlib import Path

def search_and_process_text_files(listing):
    path = Path(listing)
    path = path.resolve()
    for text_file in path.glob('*.txt'):
    # course of textual content information as wanted
        print(f'Processing {text_file}...')
        print(text_file.read_text())

search_and_process_text_files('new_project')

It’s because glob() solely searches the present listing, which doesn’t include the necessities.txt file.The necessities.txt file is within the txt subdirectory. So you must use recursive globbing with the rglob() technique as an alternative.

So right here’s the code to seek out the textual content information and print out their contents:

from pathlib import Path

def search_and_process_text_files(listing):
    path = Path(listing)
    path = path.resolve()
    for text_file in path.rglob('*.txt'):
    # course of textual content information as wanted
        print(f'Processing {text_file}...')
        print(text_file.read_text())

search_and_process_text_files('new_project')

The search_and_process_text_files operate takes a listing path as enter, resolves it to an absolute path, and searches for all .txt information inside that listing and its subdirectories utilizing the rglob() technique.

For every textual content file discovered, it prints the file’s path after which reads and prints out the file’s contents. This operate is beneficial for recursively finding and processing all textual content information inside a specified listing.

As a result of necessities.txt is the one textual content file in our instance, we get the next output:

Output >>>
Processing /residence/balapriya/new_project/txt/necessities.txt...
psycopg2==2.9.0
scikit-learn==1.5.0

Now that you understand how to make use of globbing and recursive globbing, attempt to redo the primary activity—organizing information by extension—utilizing globbing to seek out and group the information after which transfer them to the goal subdirectory.

3. Again Up Essential Information

Organizing information by the extension and trying to find particular information are the examples we’ve seen up to now. However how about backing up sure vital information, as a result of why not?

Right here we’d like to repeat information from the mission listing right into a backup listing relatively than transfer the file to a different location. Along with pathlib, we’ll additionally use the shutil module’s copy operate.

Let’s create a operate that copies all information with a particular extension (all .py information) to a backup listing:

#back_up.py
import shutil
from pathlib import Path

def back_up_files(listing, backup_directory):
    path = Path(listing)
    backup_path = Path(backup_directory)
    backup_path.mkdir(mother and father=True, exist_ok=True)

    for important_file in path.rglob('*.py'):
        shutil.copy(important_file, backup_path / important_file.identify)
        print(f'Backed up {important_file} to {backup_path}')


back_up_files('new_project', 'backup')

The back_up_files() takes in an present listing path and a backup listing path operate and backs up all Python information from a specified listing and its subdirectories into a chosen backup listing.

It creates path objects for each the supply listing and the backup listing, and ensures that the backup listing exists by creating it and any essential mum or dad directories if they don’t exist already.

The operate then iterates via all .py information within the supply listing utilizing the rglob() technique. For every Python file discovered, it copies the file to the backup listing whereas retaining the unique filename. Primarily, this operate helps in making a backup of all Python information inside a mission listing

After operating the script and verifying the output, you possibly can all the time test the contents of the backup listing:

In your instance listing, you should utilize back_up_files('/path/to/listing', '/path/to/backup/listing') to again up information of curiosity.

Wrapping Up

On this tutorial, we have explored sensible examples of utilizing Python’s pathlib module to prepare information by extension, seek for particular information, and backup vital information. You’ll find all of the code used on this tutorial on GitHub.

As you possibly can see, the pathlib module makes working with file paths and file administration duties simpler and extra environment friendly. Now, go forward and apply these ideas in your individual initiatives to deal with your file administration duties higher. Pleased coding!

Bala Priya C is a developer and technical author from India. She likes working on the intersection of math, programming, information science, and content material creation. Her areas of curiosity and experience embody DevOps, information science, and pure language processing. She enjoys studying, writing, coding, and occasional! At present, she’s engaged on studying and sharing her information with the developer group by authoring tutorials, how-to guides, opinion items, and extra. Bala additionally creates partaking useful resource overviews and coding tutorials.