Easily Retrieve a List of Files in Directory with Python
How to Get a List of All Files in a Directory With Python
When working with files in Python, it is often necessary to get a list of all the files and folders in a directory. This is a common requirement for many file-related operations. In this tutorial, you will learn different methods to accomplish this task using the pathlib
module.
Getting a List of All Files and Folders in a Directory in Python
To start, you need to create a Path
object using the pathlib
module. The type of object returned depends on the operating system you are using. For Windows, you will get a WindowsPath
object, while for Linux and macOS, you will get a PosixPath
object.
With the Path
object, you can access various methods and properties to manipulate and retrieve information about the directory.
Recursively Listing With .rglob()
The .rglob()
method allows you to recursively list all the files and folders in a directory. It searches for items in the directory and its subdirectories.
This will print the path of all the files and directories in /path/to/directory
and its subdirectories.
Using a Python Glob Pattern for Conditional Listing
You can use glob patterns to filter the items you want to list. The *
character represents any number of characters, and the ?
character represents a single character.
Conditional Listing Using .glob()
The .glob()
method allows you to list items that match a specific glob pattern.
This will print the path of all the .txt
files in /path/to/directory
.
Conditional Listing Using .rglob()
The .rglob()
method also supports glob patterns for recursive listing.
This will print the path of all the .txt
files in /path/to/directory
and its subdirectories.
Advanced Matching With the Glob Methods
The glob methods in pathlib
support even more advanced matching using braces {}
and ranges []
.
This will print the path of all the files that start with either a
, b
, or c
, and have a .txt
or .py
extension.
Opting Out of Listing Junk Directories
Sometimes, you may want to skip listing certain directories that are not relevant to your operation. You can achieve this by filtering the directories using the .rglob()
method.
Using .rglob()
to Filter Whole Directories
This code skips listing any directory whose name contains “junk”.
Creating a Recursive .iterdir()
Function
You can also create a recursive function using the .iterdir()
method to filter and list directories.
This function recursively lists all items in the directory and its subdirectories, skipping any directory containing the word “junk” in its name.
Conclusion
In this tutorial, you have learned different methods to get a list of all the files and folders in a directory using the pathlib
module in Python. You have also explored advanced matching techniques using glob patterns and filtering out irrelevant directories. These techniques will help you efficiently handle file-related operations in your Python projects.