Lecture 11

OS and Shutil Modules

Prof. Hyeong-Seok Ko
Seoul National University
Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Files to have at your 바탕화면:

• folderPractice.zip
What is directory?
• Directory ≡ folder

옛날에는 folder라는 용어가 없었고 대신 directory라는 용어를 사용했음.

What is cmd prompt?

• MS Windows OS 가 출시되기 전에는 DOS 가 있었음

– DOS 는 disk operating system 의 약어임
– 운영체제(OS)의 일종인데 이 때는 GUI 도 없었고 (mouse 도 없었고) 오로지 keyboard 를 이
용해서 명령어를 입력해야 했음.
• cmd prompt (명령 프롬프트) DOS의 요즈음 형태임
– text-based interface

여기에 keyboard 로 명령어 입력

 Unzip folderPractice.zip to your 바탕화면.
A Little Taste of cmd • abcPQR/
• defSTU/
• dir • Z/
– directory • shutilTest_05.py
• cd ... (in my case OneDrive)
– change directory
• dir
• Somehow cd to folderPractice
• cd abcPQR; dir
• cd abPQ; dir
• copy list5.txt x.txt; dir
• ↑ (up arrow)
– repeats the previous command
• del x.txt; dir
• cd ../../defSTU; dir
• rename test.txt TEST.txt; dir
• cd ../Z; dir
• mkdir Y; dir
• move list.txt Y; dir
• cd Y; dir
• move list.txt ..
• cd ..
• rmdir Y
Now, MS Windows

• 파일탐색기를 열기
• Visit folderPractice/abcPQR/abPQ.
– MS Windows 에서는 mouse 로 더블클릭을 해 나감.
• Create a copy of list5.txt.
– Ctrl + C; Ctrl + V;
• Delete that copy.
Parent Directory vs. Subdirectory

• 내PC → 바탕화면 → folderPractice → abcPQR → abPQ

상위 하위

• 내PC는 최상위 디렉토리 (root directory)

• folderPractice는 바탕화면의 하위 폴더
• folderPractice는 abcPQR 의 상위 폴더
How to express a path in text?
• What is a path?
• Why do we need to express a path in text?
– Often you have to specify a directory in the code.
– In such a case, you have to do it using text.

exampleCode.py

Python program은 글로만 작성할 수 있으니

폴더의 위치를 글로 알려줘야 함.
How to Write a Path in Text?
• .
– Current directory
• .. • Somehow cd to folderPractice
– Parent directory • cd abcPQR/abPQ; dir
• / • cd abPQ; dir
• cd ../../defSTU; dir
– Separator between the directories.
• cd ../Z; dir
– Note that
• cmd prompt 에서 폴더 간 구분 문자는 \ 임
• 그런데 python coding에서는 \ 대신 / 를 사용함.
Absolute Path vs. Relative Path
folderPractice:
• You are at abPQ. • abcPQR/
• Relative path to Z: • defSTU/
• Z/
– 현재 위치를 기준으로 하여 목적지까지의 경로 • shutilTest_05.py
– ANS:
../../Z
• Absolute path
– 처음부터 시작하여 목적지까지의 경로
– ANS:
C:\Users\hsko1\OneDrive\바탕 화면\folderPractice\Z

Click here,
then you can find the absolute path.
Programming Practice
using OS Module

Move to folderPractice/Z.
 You should be in folderPractice/Z.
getcwd()
• Returns current working directory as a string.

import os

print()
print(os.getcwd())
print()

C:\Users\hsko1\OneDrive\바탕 화면\folderPractice\Z
listdir()
• Returns a list containing the names of the entries in the directory given by path.

pythonTest_02.py
import os
print(os.listdir())

['list.txt', 'Objs', 'Old_Maid_Hands.txt',

'pythonTest_01.py', 'pythonTest_02.py',
'pythonTest_03.py', 'pythonTest_04.py',
'pythonTest_05.py', 'pythonTest_06.py',
'pythonTest_07.py', 'shutilTest_02.py',
'shutilTest_03.py', 'shutilTest_04.py',
'ZZ']
chdir(path)
• Changes the current working directory to the given path.

pythonTest_03.py
import os
parentDir = ".."
# parentDir = "../" is also fine
os.chdir(parentDir)
print(os.getcwd())
subDir = "./abcPQR"
os.chdir(subDir)
print(os.getcwd())

C:\Users\hsko1\OneDrive\바탕 화면\folderPractice
C:\Users\hsko1\OneDrive\바탕 화면\folderPractice\abcPQR
makedirs(path, exist_ok=True/False)
• Makes the directories with the specified path.
– exist_ok (optional): if the path already exists, error occurs if the value is False.

pythonTest_04.py
import os
newDir = "./MySubFolder"
# newDir = "MySubFolder" is also fine
os.makedirs(newDir)
os.makedirs(newDir) # error
os.makedirs(newDir, exist_ok=True) # ok
removedirs(path)
• Removes the directories in the specified path.

pythonTest_05.py
import os
os.removedirs("./MySubFolder")
isfile(path), isdir(path), exists(path)
• isfile(path)
– Returns True if the path is an existing file.
• isdir(path)
– Returns True if the path is an existing directory.
• exists(path)
– Returns True if there exists a file or directory.

pythonTest_06.py
import os
newDir = "./MySubFolder"
os.makedirs(newDir, exist_ok=True)
x = "./pythonTest_01.py"
y = "./MySubFolder"
print(os.path.isfile(x), os.path.isfile(y)) True False
print(os.path.isdir(x), os.path.isdir(y)) False True
print(os.path.exists(x), os.path.exists(y)) True True
rename(old, new)
• Renames the file or directory from old to new.

pythonTest_07.py
import os
oldDirName = "./MySubFolder"
newDirName = "./MyNewSubFolder"
oldFileName = "./pythonTest_01.py"
newFileName = "./pythonTest_01NEW.py"
os.rename(oldDirName, newDirName)
os.rename(oldFileName, newFileName)
Programming Practice
using Shutil Module
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_(computing)
Shutil
• Shell utilities
• What is Shell?
– A computer program that exposes an operating system’s services to a human user or other
programs.
– Command-Line Interface (CLI) vs. Graphical User Interface (GUI)
– You can think shell = cmd prompt in this class.

cmd.exe (CLI) File Explorer (GUI)

Moving a File to a Folder
• In the cmd prompt, execute: move list.txt ZZ
• Go to ZZ.

shutil_01.py
import shutil

sourceFile = "list.txt"
targetFolder = "../"
shutil.move(sourceFile, targetFolder)
 Moving a Folder to a Folder

If target folder doesn’t exists, If target folder exists,

shutil_02.py
import shutil

sourceFolder = "Objs"
targetFolder = "New_Objs"
shutil.move(sourceFolder, targetFolder)
Copying a File to another File: copyfile()

shutil_03.py
import shutil

sourceFile = "Old_Maid_Hands.txt"
targetFile = "New_Old_Maid_Hands.txt"
shutil.copyfile(sourceFile, targetFile)
Copying a File to a Folder: copy()

shutil_04.py
import shutil

sourceFile = "IMG_SNU.png"
targetFolder = "Image"
shutil.copy(sourceFile, targetFolder)
# shutil.copy2(sourceFile, targetFolder)
copyfile() vs. copy() vs. copy2()
• copyfile()
– just copies the contents of the file.

• copy()
– Copyfile() + copymode
• copymode: permission to read, write, or execute

• copy2()
– Copyfile() + copystat
• copystat: metadata (permission + modification date, access date, etc.)

• copyfile < copy < copy2

Making a complete copy of a folder: copytree()

shutil_05.py
import shutil

sourceFolder = "abcPQR"
targetFolder = "New_abcPQR"
shutil.copytree(sourceFolder, targetFolder)
OS vs. Shutil (taken from Quora and Wikipedia)
• OS is largely thin wrappers around POSIX system calls and library functions.
– The Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX) is a family of standards specified by the IEEE
Computer Society for maintaining compatibility between operating systems.
• Shutil contains high-level Python-specific functions.
– These are built on top of Python’s os module and each call may represent dozens or hundreds of
calls to lower-level functions.
 Lecture 11
OS and Shutil Modules
The End