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Python File Automation: Copy, Move, Delete

Automate file system tasks efficiently using Python’s os and shutil modules.

Setup & Basics

• Import modules: import os, import shutil
• Current working directory: os.getcwd()
• Change directory: os.chdir('path/to/dir')

File Operations

• Copy a file:

  shutil.copy('source.txt', 'destination.txt')
  # Destination can be a new name or existing directory
  

• Move/Rename a file:

  shutil.move('old_name.txt', 'new_location/new_name.txt')
  # Renames if new_location is same as old
  

• Delete a file:

  os.remove('file_to_delete.txt')
  

Directory Operations

• Create a directory:

  os.mkdir('new_folder')
  # Creates single directory
  os.makedirs('path/to/new/nested/folder')
  # Creates all intermediate directories
  

• List directory contents:

  os.listdir('.')
  # Returns list of names
  

• Delete an empty directory:

  os.rmdir('empty_folder')
  

• Delete non-empty directory (CAUTION!):

  shutil.rmtree('folder_with_content')
  # Recursively deletes directory and all contents
  

Path Management

• Use os.path.join() for OS-agnostic path construction.
• Example: file_path = os.path.join('data', 'reports', 'report.pdf')