File Searching using Python

File Searching using Python

You can search for files in Python using the built-in os and fnmatch modules. Here are a couple of ways to search for files based on specific criteria:

1. Recursive File Search using os.walk()

Here's a function to recursively search for all files with a specific extension (e.g., .txt):

import os def find_files(path, extension): matches = [] for root, dirnames, filenames in os.walk(path): for filename in filenames: if filename.endswith(extension): matches.append(os.path.join(root, filename)) return matches # Example usage: path_to_search = '/path/to/start_directory' found_files = find_files(path_to_search, '.txt') print(found_files)

2. Search for Files with Pattern Matching using fnmatch

This method is useful if you want to search for files based on patterns:

import os import fnmatch def find_files_pattern(path, pattern): matches = [] for root, dirnames, filenames in os.walk(path): for filename in fnmatch.filter(filenames, pattern): matches.append(os.path.join(root, filename)) return matches # Example usage: path_to_search = '/path/to/start_directory' found_files = find_files_pattern(path_to_search, '*.txt') print(found_files)

The above function uses the fnmatch module to filter filenames that match the specified pattern (e.g., *.txt).

3. Using pathlib (Modern Approach):

From Python 3.4 onwards, you can use the pathlib module, which provides a more object-oriented interface:

from pathlib import Path def find_files_pathlib(path, pattern): return [file for file in Path(path).rglob(pattern)] # Example usage: path_to_search = '/path/to/start_directory' found_files = find_files_pathlib(path_to_search, '*.txt') print(found_files)

The rglob method performs a recursive search, returning a generator of matching files.

These methods should cover most file searching requirements in Python. Adjust them as needed based on your specific criteria.

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