But trust me, this is one of those things you’ll want to master if you spend any significant amount of time working with files in your code.
First off, let’s start with the basics.In Python, there are two main ways to move or copy a file: using the `shutil` module or doing it yourself with some good old-fashioned string manipulation and I/O operations.
Now, if youre like me, you might be thinking Who needs all that fancy shutil stuff? Can’t we just do this ourselves? And to answer your question yes, you can! But let’s take a closer look at both options so you can decide which one is best for your specific use case.
Option 1: Using `shutil`
The `shutil` module provides some handy functions for moving and copying files in Python. Here are the two most commonly used ones:
– `copyfile(src, dst)` Copies a file from source to destination. If the destination already exists, it will be overwritten without warning!
Example usage:
# Import the shutil module
import shutil
# Use the copyfile function from shutil to copy a file from source to destination
# The first argument is the source file and the second argument is the destination file
# If the destination file already exists, it will be overwritten without warning
shutil.copyfile('source_file.txt', 'destination_file.txt')
– `move(src, dst)` Moves a file from source to destination. If the destination already exists, it will be overwritten without warning!
Example usage:
# Import the shutil module to access the move function
import shutil
# Define the source and destination paths as variables
source = 'source_file.txt'
destination = 'destination_folder/'
# Use the move function to move the file from source to destination
# If the destination already exists, it will be overwritten without warning
shutil.move(source, destination)
# The move function is used to move a file from one location to another, and the source and destination paths are defined as variables for easier readability and flexibility.
Now, you might have noticed that both of these functions are pretty straightforward and easy to use. But what if we want a bit more control over our file moves and copies? Maybe we don’t want to overwrite existing files or maybe we need to preserve the original directory structure when copying multiple files at once.
Thats where option 2 comes in doing it yourself with string manipulation and I/O operations!
Option 2: Doing it Yourself
If you’re feeling adventurous, you can always roll your own file moves and copies using Python’s built-in `os` module. Here are some examples to get you started:
– Copy a single file with preservation of directory structure:
# Import the os module to access file and directory manipulation functions
import os
# Define the source file path
src_path = 'source/file.txt'
# Define the destination folder path
dest_folder = 'destination/'
# Define the new file name for the copied file
dest_name = 'new_filename.txt'
# Create the destination directory if it doesn't already exist
os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(dest_folder + dest_name), exist_ok=True)
# Open the source file in read mode using 'rb' to read in binary format
with open(src_path, 'rb') as src:
# Open the destination file in write mode using 'wb' to write in binary format
with open(dest_folder + dest_name, 'wb') as dest:
# Use a while loop to read the source file in chunks of 8KB for better performance
while True:
# Read 8KB of data from the source file and store it in the 'data' variable
data = src.read(1024 * 8)
# Check if there is no more data to read, if so, break out of the loop
if not data:
break
# Write the data to the destination file
dest.write(data)
# The file has now been successfully copied to the destination folder with the new file name.
– Move a single file with preservation of directory structure:
# Import the necessary module
import os
import shutil
# Define the source file path
src_path = 'source/file.txt'
# Define the destination folder path
dest_folder = 'destination/'
# Create the destination directory if it doesn't already exist
os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(dest_folder), exist_ok=True)
# Copy the source file to the destination folder with preservation of original filename and extension
shutil.copy2(src_path, dest_folder + os.path.basename(src_path))
# Delete the source file to avoid any potential conflicts or errors
os.remove(src_path)
# The above script moves a single file from the source path to the destination folder while preserving the directory structure.
# The os module is used to create the destination directory if it doesn't already exist.
# The shutil module is used to copy the file with preservation of the original filename and extension.
# Finally, the source file is deleted to avoid any potential conflicts or errors.
– Copy multiple files at once while preserving directory structure:
# Import necessary libraries
import os # import os library for operating system related functions
import shutil # import shutil library for file operations
# Define source and destination folders
source_folder = 'source/' # define source folder path
destination_folder = 'destination/' # define destination folder path
# Iterate over all directories and subdirectories within source folder
for root, dirs, files in os.walk(source_folder): # os.walk() returns a tuple of (root, dirs, files) for each directory and subdirectory within the given path
for file in files: # iterate over all files within current directory
src_path = os.path.join(root, file) # create full path to source file by joining root path and file name
dest_name = os.path.basename(src_path) # get filename without path information
dest_folder = destination_folder + dirs[-1] + '/' # create destination folder based on current directory within source folder
if not os.path.exists(dest_folder): # check if destination folder exists, and create it if necessary
os.makedirs(dest_folder) # create destination folder if it does not exist
dest_path = dest_folder + dest_name # create full path to destination file by joining destination folder and file name
shutil.copy2(src_path, dest_path) # copy file with preservation of original filename and extension using shutil.copy2() function
Now, you might be wondering which option is better? Well, that depends on your specific use case! If you’re working with a large number of files or need to preserve directory structure, doing it yourself may be the way to go. But if you just want to copy or move a single file without any fancy features, using `shutil` can save you some time and effort.