File Management in Python - Getting Information on Existing Files
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Using several of Python's modules, it is possible to obtain information on existig files. To get basic information, the "os" module can be used in conjunction with the "stat" module: 

import os

import stat

import time

fileStats = os.stat ( 'test.txt' )

fileInfo = {

   'Size' : fileStats [ stat.ST_SIZE ],

   'LastModified' : time.ctime ( fileStats [ stat.ST_MTIME ] ),

   'LastAccessed' : time.ctime ( fileStats [ stat.ST_ATIME ] ),

   'CreationTime' : time.ctime ( fileStats [ stat.ST_CTIME ] ),

   'Mode' : fileStats [ stat.ST_MODE ]

}

for infoField, infoValue in fileInfo:

   print infoField, ':' + infoValue

if stat.S_ISDIR ( fileStats [ stat.ST_MODE ] ):

   print 'Directory. '

else:

   print 'Non-directory.' 

The above example creates a dictionary containing some basic information about the file. It then displays the data and tells us if it's a directory or not. We can also check to see if the file is one of several other types: 

import os

import stat

fileStats = os.stat ( 'test.txt' )

fileMode = fileStats [ stat.ST_MODE ]

if stat.S_ISREG ( fileStats [ stat.ST_MODE ] ):

   print 'Regular file.'

elif stat.S_ISDIR ( fileSTats [ stat.ST_MODe ] ):

   print 'Directory.'

elif stat.S_ISLNK ( fileSTats [ stat.ST_MODe ] ):

   print 'Shortcut.'

elif stat.S_ISSOCK ( fileSTats [ stat.ST_MODe ] ):

   print 'Socket.'

elif stat.S_ISFIFO ( fileSTats [ stat.ST_MODe ] ):

   print 'Named pipe.'

elif stat.S_ISBLK ( fileSTats [ stat.ST_MODe ] ):

   print 'Block special device.'

elif stat.S_ISCHR ( fileSTats [ stat.ST_MODe ] ):

   print 'Character special device.' 

Additionally, we can use "os.path" to gather basic information: 

import os.path

fileStats = 'test.txt'

if os.path.isdir ( fileStats ):

   print 'Directory.'

elif os.path.isfile ( fileStats ):

   print 'File.'

elif os.path.islink ( fileStats ):

   print 'Shortcut.'

elif os.path.ismount ( fileStats ):

   print 'Mount point.' 

Next: Directories >>
 

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