Python pathlib

Part 1: path searching

• all folders/files (including sub-folders/files) within a directory

pathlib.Path(target_dir).glob("**/*")

if only folders/sub-folders

pathlib.Path(target_dir).glob('**')

• all files/folders in current directory

pathlib.Path(target_dir).glob('*')

• all files/folders in the second current directory

pathlib.Path(target_dir).glob('*/*')

• search for a certain type of files

(1) global search including sub-directories

my_list = pathlib.Path(my_dir).rglob("*.png")

(2) only search in current directory

my_list = pathlib.Path(my_dir).glob("*.png")

Part 2: file manipulation

• delete files

 from pathlib import Path 
 my_path = Path.cwd() / 'python' / 'libpath' / "a.txt"
  
 assert my_path.exists(), print(my_path)
 my_path.unlink()

• change file name

.with_suffix : change the suffix name

Part 3: path relation

• add a list of sub-directories

pathlib.Path(my_path).joinpath(*argv)

• change file format name

pathlib.Path(my_file).with_suffix(".txt")

• relative path

cur_file_dir = os.path.dirname(__file__)
hydra_setting_path = os.path.relpath(hydra_setting_path, cur_file_dir)

Part 4: path elements

• stem vs name vs suffix

stem will not include . when it is the last part of the path name, and this is valid regardless whether the path points to a folder or a file test1

name will give the name with the suffix if it exists. test1.txt

suffix will give the suffix .txt

Part 5: path info

• current working directory Path.cwd()
• is_dir is directory?
• is_file is file?

Part 6: read/write file

from pathlib import Path
my_str="hello the world"
Path("example-file.txt").write_text(my_str)
str = Path("example-file.txt").read_text()
print(str)

Namely: read_bytes, write_text, and write_bytes. With these four methods, you can cover the majority of your file reading/writing needs without repeatedly writing with open(...) context managers.