Those magical tools that help you navigate through your computer’s file system and locate those ***** files you can never seem to remember where they are.
Did you know that Python has its own set of path entry finders built-in? That’s right, no need for fancy third-party tools or complicated command line hacks. Just a few simple functions and you’re good to go!
Okay, first things first, the most basic one `os.getcwd()`. This function returns the current working directory of your Python script. It’s like asking Siri where you are right now. Pretty handy if you want to know which folder you’re in when running a script or executing some commands from within it.
Here’s an example:
# Import the os module to access operating system functionalities
import os
# Use the getcwd() function from the os module to get the current working directory
# and store it in the variable "current_dir"
current_dir = os.getcwd()
# Print the current working directory to the console
print(current_dir)
# The above script will print the current working directory of the Python script
# This is useful for knowing which folder the script is running in or executing commands from within it.
Now, let’s say you have a file called `my_file.txt` somewhere deep inside your computer’s file system and you want to open it from within Python. You could use the `open()` function with an absolute path like this:
# This script opens a file called `my_file.txt` using the `open()` function and reads its contents.
# First, we need to import the `os` module to access the file system.
import os
# Then, we can use the `os.path.join()` function to create an absolute path to the file.
# This function takes in multiple arguments and joins them together to create a path.
# In this case, we are joining the path to the user's documents folder with the file name.
file_path = os.path.join('C:/Users/YourName/Documents', 'my_file.txt')
# Now, we can use the `open()` function to open the file in read mode.
# The `with` statement ensures that the file is automatically closed after we are done using it.
with open(file_path, 'r') as f:
# The `readlines()` method reads the entire file and returns a list of strings, with each line as an element.
contents = f.readlines()
# We can now access and manipulate the contents of the file as needed.
# For example, we can print out each line in the file.
for line in contents:
print(line)
But that’s a lot of typing and it can get messy if you move the file around or share your code with someone else who has a different directory structure. That’s where `os.path.join()` comes in handy! This function combines two paths (relative or absolute) into one, making it easier to work with files that are located somewhere other than your current working directory.
Here’s an example:
# Importing the necessary modules
import os # Importing the os module to work with file paths
from pathlib import Path # Importing the Path class from the pathlib module to work with file paths
# Defining the file path using the Path class
my_file = Path('Documents/my_file.txt')
# Printing the joined path using the os.path.join() function
# The os.getcwd() function returns the current working directory
# The os.path.join() function combines the current working directory with the file path specified in my_file
print(os.path.join(os.getcwd(), my_file))
Now, let’s say you have a script called `my_script.py` in the same directory as your current working directory and you want to run it from within Python. You could use the `subprocess` module like this:
# Import the subprocess module to access its functions
import subprocess
# Use the run function from the subprocess module to execute a command
# The command being executed is 'python my_script.py', which will run the python script called 'my_script.py'
# The run function takes in a list of strings as its argument, with the first element being the command and the following elements being any additional arguments
# In this case, the command is 'python' and the argument is 'my_script.py'
subprocess.run(['python', 'my_script.py'])
But that’s a lot of typing and it can get messy if you move your script around or share your code with someone else who has a different directory structure. That’s where `os.path.abspath()` comes in handy! This function returns the absolute path to a given file, making it easier to work with scripts that are located somewhere other than your current working directory.
Here’s an example:
# Importing the necessary libraries
import os # Importing the os library to work with file paths
from pathlib import Path # Importing the Path class from the pathlib library to work with file paths
# Defining the file we want to work with
my_script = Path('my_script.py') # Creating a Path object for the file "my_script.py"
# Printing the absolute path of the file
print(os.path.abspath(str(my_script))) # Using the os.path.abspath() function to get the absolute path of the file and printing it
# The purpose of this script is to get the absolute path of a given file, making it easier to work with scripts that are located somewhere other than the current working directory.
And that’s it! You now have a basic understanding of Python’s built-in path entry finders `getcwd()`, `join()`, and `abspath()`. These functions will save you time, effort, and frustration when working with files and scripts in your computer’s file system.
So go ahead and try them out! And if you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to leave a comment below.