Python File Handling

A key component of any application is file handling.

There are various functions in Python to create, read, update, and delete files.

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Python open() Method

The open() function is the main function to work with files.

Two parameters of Open() function: filename, and mode.

There are four possible ways to opening a file :

"r" - Read - Value default. Opens a reading file if the file doesn't exist error
"a" - Append - Opens an append file, creates a file if it's not available.
"w" - Write - Open a writing file, creates the file if there is no file.
"x" - Create - Create the file, return the error when the file exists.

Moreover, you can indicate whether the binary or text file should be treated.

"t" - text - Value of default. Mode Text
"b" - binary mode "b" (e.g. images)

Syntax

To open a read file, the name of the file is sufficient :

f = open("demofile.txt")

The code above is the same as :

f = open("demofile.txt", "rt")

You do not need to mention them because "r" for reading and "t" for text are default.

Note : Ensure that the file is available otherwise you'll get an error.

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Python Close File - close() Method

When you finish it, it is a recommended practice that you always close the file.

Example :- Close the file when you are finish with it :

f = open("demofile.txt", "r")
# Write code to read data or write data
f.close()

Note : in some circumstances, changes to a file may not appear until you have closed the file, because of the buffering.

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Python Read File Content - read() Method

The read() function is used to read all contents at once or read first 'N' number of characters from a file.

Suppose that we have the file in the same folder as Python : demofile.txt

Hello! Welcome to demofile.txt
This file is for testing purposes.
Good Luck!

Use the built-in open() function to open the file.

Example 1 :- Reading all contents at a time from "demofile.txt":

f = open("demofile.txt", "r")
print(f.read())
f.close()

Output :-

Hello! Welcome to demofile.txt
This file is for testing purposes.
Good Luck!

When the file is located at another location, the path to the file must be set as follows :

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Read Only Parts of the File

The read() method provides the complete text by default, however you can specify how many characters you would like to return :

Example 2:- Return the first 5 characters of the file :

f = open("demofile.txt", "r")
print(f.read(5))
f.close()

Output :-

Hello

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Python Read File Contents Line By Line - readline() Method

The readline() method is used to read a single line from a file.

Example 1 :- Read one line of the file :

f = open("demofile.txt", "r")
print(f.readline())
f.close()

Output :-

Hello! Welcome to demofile.txt

You can read the first two lines by executing readline() twice :

Example 2 :- Read two lines of the file:

f = open("demofile.txt", "r")
print(f.readline())
print(f.readline())
f.close()

Output :-

Hello! Welcome to demofile.txt
This file is for testing purposes.

Example 3 :- Read all lines - Loop through the file line by line :

You may read the entire file, line by line, by looping through file lines :

f = open("demofile.txt", "r")
for x in f:
  print(x)
f.close()

Output :-

Hello! Welcome to demofile.txt
This file is for testing purposes.
Good Luck!

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Python File Write

You can create a new file or refer to an existing file using open() method in python.

The write() method is used to write data to a specified file.

You can specify the write mode (append or overwrite) of a file using file mode attributes.

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Create File and Write Data to an Existing File

You must provide a parameter in the open() function to write to an existing file :

"a" - Append - is to be added to the file end.
"w" - Write - will overwrite any content already present.

Note: Both parameters will create a file (if does not exist) and then write or append data to the file.

Suppose that we have the file called myfile.txt and it has following contents:

Welcome To
Python

Example 1 :- Open the "myfile.txt" file and add or append the file contents :

f = open("e:\\myfile.txt", "a")
f.write("File Handling")
f.close()
#open and read the file after the appending:
f = open("e:\\myfile.txt", "r")
print(f.read())
f.close()

Output :-

Welcome To
Python
File Handling

Example 2 :- Open the "myfile.txt" file and override the contents :

f = open("e:\\myfile.txt", "w")
f.write("I am new!")
f.close()
#open and read the file after the appending:
f = open("e:\\myfile.txt", "r")
print(f.read())
f.close()

Output :-

I am new!

Note : The "w" technique overwrites the file in its entirety.

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Create a New File

Use the open() method to create a new Python file with one of the parameters below :

"x" - Create - Create a file, returns an error when the file is present
"a" - Append - creates a file if there is no specific file
"w" - write - creates a file if the file is not specified

Example :- Create a file called "myfile2.txt" :

f = open("E:\\myfile2.txt", "x")

Result : a new empty file is created!

If you run the program second time, it will generate the follwing error:

Traceback (most recent call last):
f = open("e:\\myfile2.txt", "x")
FileExistsError: [Errno 17] File exists: 'e:\\myfile2.txt'

The a and w parameters are will not throw any exception.

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Delete a File

You need to import the OS module and use their os.remove() function in order to delete a file:

Example :- Remove the file "e:\\myfile.txt" :

import os
os.remove("e:\\myfile.txt")

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Check if File exist

You may wish to check whether the file exists before attempting to open or delete it to avoid error :

Example :- Check if file exists, then delete it :

import os
if os.path.exists("e:\\myfile.txt"):
  os.remove("e:\\myfile.txt")
else:
  print("The file does not exist")

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Delete Folder

Use the os.rmdir() method to remove a whole folder :

Example :- Remove the folder "myfolder" :

import os
os.rmdir("myfolder")

Note : only empty folders can be deleted.

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