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Reference library

Files & data

Read and write files safely; parse JSON, CSV, and common text formats.

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Files & data easy

Compare Two Folder Structures and Find Differences in Python

Walks two directories using os.walk, builds sets of relative paths, and prints items that exist in only one folder.

filesystem os.walk comparison
Python
import os

def compare_folders(path1, path2):
    """
    Compare the file/folder structure of two directories and print differences.
    """
    def get_structure(root):
        structure = set()
        for dirpath, dirnames, filenames in os.walk(root):
            rel_path = os.path.relpath(dirpath, root)
         …
2 0 Open
Files & data medium

How to Generate an Inventory Report of All Files in Python

Walk a directory tree, collect metadata for every file, and write a CSV inventory report using Python's os, pathlib, and csv modules.

os.walk pathlib csv
Python
import os
import csv
from pathlib import Path
from datetime import datetime

def generate_inventory_report(root_dir: str = "/", output_file: str = "inventory_report.csv"):
    headers = ["File Path", "Size (bytes)", "Last Modified", "File Type"]
    rows = []
    start_time = datetime.now()
    
    for dirpath, dirna…
1 0 Open

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