Facebook Twitter Instagram
    TecAdmin
    • Home
    • FeedBack
    • Submit Article
    • About Us
    Facebook Twitter Instagram
    TecAdmin
    You are at:Home»Python Tips & Tricks»Python Program to Get the File Name From the Full Path

    Python Program to Get the File Name From the Full Path

    By RahulJuly 7, 20233 Mins Read

    Python, as an incredibly versatile language, offers several ways to manipulate strings and paths. A frequent necessity in programming is to extract the file name from a full file path. Whether you are handling user uploads or manipulating files on the server, this skill is incredibly useful. In this article, we’ll explore a Python program that can extract a file name from a complete file path.

    Using Python’s os.path module

    Python’s built-in `os` module provides a plethora of functions to handle file and directory operations, and the `os.path` module is designed specifically for path manipulations. For this task, we’ll use the `os.path.basename()` function.

    Here is a simple program that takes a file path and gives you the file name:

    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    6
    7
    import os
     
    def get_filename_from_path(file_path):
        return os.path.basename(file_path)
     
    file_path = "/home/user/documents/myfile.txt"
    print(get_filename_from_path(file_path))

    When you run this program, it will print myfile.txt, which is the name of the file from the provided path.

    The function `os.path.basename(path)` in Python gives the base name in the path, which is the second element from the tuple produced when the path is passed to the `os.path.split(path)` function. It’s important to highlight that this function behaves differently compared to the Unix `basename` program. For instance, while the Unix `basename` program returns ‘bar’ for ‘/foo/bar/’, the `os.path.basename()` function in Python instead returns an empty string (”).

    Using Python’s pathlib module

    Another alternative to handle paths in Python is the `pathlib` module. It offers a more high-level and intuitive approach to handle filesystem paths. Here is a similar program using `pathlib`:

    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    6
    7
    from pathlib import Path
     
    def get_filename_from_path(file_path):
        return Path(file_path).name
     
    file_path = "/home/user/documents/myfile.txt"
    print(get_filename_from_path(file_path))

    When you run this program, it will print myfile.txt, same as the previous program. `Path.name` provides the final path component, without its suffix.

    In the `pathlib` module, Path is a class that encapsulates filesystem paths and offers methods and properties to handle paths according to their semantics. When you create a Path object, you can access properties such as name, suffix, and stem that represent different components of the path.

    Error Handling

    In real-life applications, you should add error handling to these functions. A potential issue can arise if the provided input isn’t a string, or if it doesn’t represent a valid path. Here’s an example of how you might handle these errors:

    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    6
    7
    8
    9
    10
    11
    12
    from pathlib import Path
     
    def get_filename_from_path(file_path):
        if not isinstance(file_path, str):
            raise ValueError("File path must be a string")
        path = Path(file_path)
        if not path.is_absolute():
            raise ValueError("File path must be absolute")
        return path.name
     
    file_path = "/home/user/documents/myfile.txt"
    print(get_filename_from_path(file_path))

    In this code, `isinstance(file_path, str)` checks if `file_path` is a string, and `path.is_absolute()` checks if `path` represents an absolute path. If either check fails, the function raises a ValueError with a description of the problem.

    This is just the beginning of what you can do with file paths in Python. The os.path and pathlib modules offer many more functions to manipulate paths, check if a path exists, create new directories, and much more.

    With Python, handling file and directory paths is an easy task, and understanding how to use these modules effectively will help you become a better Python programmer.

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email WhatsApp

    Related Posts

    How to Create and Use Custom Python Module

    Performance Optimization with Pylint in Python

    Understanding Case Sensitivity in Python

    Add A Comment

    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    Advertisement
    Recent Posts
    • How to Create and Use Custom Python Module
    • How to Install and Use Podman on Ubuntu 22.04 & 20.04
    • Setting Up Laravel with Docker and Docker-compose
    • Setting Up Development Environments with PHP and Docker
    • Using Composer with Different PHP Versions in Linux
    Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest
    © 2023 Tecadmin.net. All Rights Reserved | Terms  | Privacy Policy

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.