Files & data
Read and write files safely; parse JSON, CSV, and common text formats.
How to resolve a symlink to its real path in Python with pathlib
Use Path.resolve() to turn a symlink path into its absolute target path, handling relative symlinks and eliminating symbolic links.
from pathlib import Path
def resolve_symlink(path):
p = Path(path)
return str(p.resolve())
if __name__ == "__main__":
# Create a symlink to demonstrate the resolution
target = Path("/tmp/real_target.txt")
target.write_text("hello")
link = Path("/tmp/my_link.txt")
try:
link.symlink…How to write an INI config section with configparser in Python
Create an INI configuration file with sections using Python's configparser module and write it to disk.
import configparser
config = configparser.ConfigParser()
config["General"] = {
"host": "localhost",
"port": "8080",
"debug": "true"
}
config["Database"] = {
"name": "appdb",
"user": "admin",
"password": "secret"
}
with open("example.ini", "w") as file:
config.write(file)
with open("examp…Join two CSV files on shared key column in Python
Merge rows from two CSV files by a common key column, outputting combined records to a new file.
import csv
def join_csv(file1, file2, key, output="joined.csv"):
# Read first CSV into dict keyed by the join column
with open(file1, newline="") as f1:
reader1 = csv.DictReader(f1)
data1 = {row[key]: row for row in reader1}
# Read second CSV and merge matching rows
with open(file2, n…Merge Multiple PDF Files into One Document in Python
Combines multiple PDF files into a single PDF document using the PyPDF2 library's PdfMerger class.
import PyPDF2
def merge_pdfs(input_paths, output_path):
merger = PyPDF2.PdfMerger()
for path in input_paths:
merger.append(path)
merger.write(output_path)
merger.close()
print(f"Merged {len(input_paths)} PDFs into '{output_path}'.")
if __name__ == "__main__":
files = ["file1.pdf", "fi…Move a file to an archive folder with shutil.move in Python
Move a file to an archive folder with shutil.move, creating the folder if needed, and return the new path.
from pathlib import Path
import shutil
def move_file_to_archive(source_file: str, archive_folder: str) -> Path:
"""Move a file to the archive folder, creating it if needed."""
src = Path(source_file)
archive = Path(archive_folder)
archive.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
destination = archive / …Reassemble File Parts into Original File Bytes in Python
Read sorted part files from a directory and concatenate their bytes into the original file.
import os
import sys
from pathlib import Path
def reassemble_parts(parts_dir: Path, output_path: Path) -> int:
"""
Reassemble file parts into the original file.
Args:
parts_dir: Directory containing the part files
output_path: Path where the reassembled file will be written
Returns:
…Rotate Log Files in Python by Size
This code rotates a log file when its size exceeds a threshold, keeping a specified number of backups.
import os
import glob
from pathlib import Path
def rotate_log(log_path, max_size_bytes=1024, max_backups=3):
log_file = Path(log_path)
if log_file.stat().st_size <= max_size_bytes:
print(f"Log size {log_file.stat().st_size} bytes <= threshold, no rotation")
return
for i in range(max_backu…Split CSV Files into Smaller Chunks in Python
Splits a large CSV file into multiple smaller chunk files, preserving the header row in each chunk.
import csv
import os
def split_csv(input_file, chunk_size=1000, output_prefix="chunk"):
"""Split a large CSV file into smaller chunks."""
with open(input_file, 'r', newline='') as infile:
reader = csv.reader(infile)
header = next(reader)
file_count = 1
row_count = 0
…Sync only changed files between two folders in Python
This code compares two folders and copies only the new or modified files from source to destination, skipping unchanged ones by comparing SHA-256 hashes.
import hashlib
from pathlib import Path
import shutil
def file_hash(path: Path, chunk_size: int = 8192) -> str:
hasher = hashlib.sha256()
with path.open("rb") as f:
for chunk in iter(lambda: f.read(chunk_size), b""):
hasher.update(chunk)
return hasher.hexdigest()
def sync_files(src: s…Browse by section
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