| The os module | ||
|---|---|---|
 | Chapter 14. The Python Standard Library |  |
| The os module | ||
|---|---|---|
| | Chapter 14. The Python Standard Library | |
This module represents generic operating
system functionality. This module is especially important
if you want to make your programs platform-independent i.e. it allows the program to be
written such that it will run on Linux as well as Windows without any problems and without
requiring changes. An example of this is using the os.sep variable
instead of the operation system-specific path separator.
Some of the more useful parts of the os module are listed below
Most of them are self-explanatory.
The os.name string specifies which platform you are using,
such as 'nt' for Windows and 'posix'
for Linux/Unix users.
The os.getcwd() function gets the current working
directory i.e. the path of the directory from which the curent Python
script is working.
The os.getenv() and os.putenv()
functions are used to get and set environment variables respectively.
The os.listdir() function returns the name of all
files and directories in the specified directory.
The os.remove() function is used to delete a file.
The os.system() function is used to run a shell
command.
The os.linesep string gives the line terminator used
in the current platform. For example, Windows uses '\r\n',
Linux uses '\n' and Mac uses '\r'.
The os.path.split() function returns the directory
name and file name of the path.
>>> os.path.split('/home/swaroop/byte/code/poem.txt')
('/home/swaroop/byte/code', 'poem.txt')
The os.path.isfile() and the
os.path.isdir() functions check if the given path
refers to a file or directory respectively. Similarly, the
os.path.exists() function is used to check if a
given path actually exists.
You can explore the Python Standard Documentation for more details on these functions and
variables. You can use help(sys), etc. as well.
| |  | |
| The sys module |  | Summary |