stat()’. But hey, don’t worry if you fall asleep during this tutorial because we’re gonna keep it casual as hell!
So what is file status information? Well, let me put it to you this way: have you ever wondered how big a certain file on your computer is or when was the last time it was modified? If so, then my friend, you need to know about ‘os.stat()’. This method allows us to get all sorts of juicy details about files and directories in Python.
Now Let’s get started with some examples! First off, we can use ‘os.stat()’ to find out the size of a file:
# Import the os module to access operating system functionalities
import os
# Define the file path of the file we want to get information about
file_path = "my_cool_file.txt"
# Use the os.stat() method to get a tuple of information about the file
stats = os.stat(file_path)
# The sixth element in the tuple returned by os.stat() is the size of the file in bytes
size = stats[6]
# Print a formatted string to display the file path and size in bytes
print("The size of {} is {:,} bytes.".format(file_path, size))
# Output: The size of my_cool_file.txt is 1,234 bytes.
Wow, that’s a lot of code just to find out the size of a file! But hey, we’re not here for efficiency, right? We’re here to learn and have fun while doing it! And speaking of having fun, let’s see how ‘os.stat()’ can help us determine when was the last time a file was modified:
# Import the os module to access operating system functionalities
import os
# Define the file path of the file we want to check
file_path = "my_cool_file.txt"
# Use the os.stat() function to get the file's stats
stats = os.stat(file_path)
# The modification time is the second element in the tuple returned by os.stat()
# We can access it by using index 2
modification_time = stats[2]
# We need to import the time module to convert the modification time from seconds since epoch to a readable format
import time
# Use the time.time() function to get the current time in seconds since epoch
current_time = time.time()
# Subtract the current time from the modification time to get the time difference in seconds
time_difference = current_time - modification_time
# Use the format() function to insert the file path and time difference into the string
# Use the int() function to convert the time difference to an integer for readability
print("The last modification to {} was at {:,} seconds ago.".format(file_path, int(time_difference)))
# Output: The last modification to my_cool_file.txt was at 1,234 seconds ago.
Now you might be wondering why we’re using ‘int()’ to convert the difference between current time and modification time into an integer. Well, that’s because Python doesn’t like working with floating point numbers when it comes to comparing times (or at least I don’t). So by converting everything to integers, we can avoid any potential issues down the line.
With ‘os.stat()’, you can now get all sorts of juicy details about files and directories in Python. Just remember to keep your eyes open and your mind alert because this stuff can be pretty boring if you let it!