Where did that file go?

[DanPatterson_Retired]

I know ... I know... you can do that in Window's Explorer ...

find stuff ... sort stuff ... check modification date ...

but nothing is nicer than having a hardcopy in your hand to document where things are at a point in time.

To this end, I began poking around in the os module and the arcpy.da module looking at the options for traversing paths.  This lead me to some amazing threads on GeoNet and elsewhere about documenting data sources and types.  Many people went to great lengths to develop the Amazing-o-rama that would document everything ... everywhere and at any time.

Me?  I know where all my data are.

My needs are simple...I have a couple of folders of shapefiles, a couple of folders of grids, some *.tif and *.sid things and more recently...from cajoling by some nameless cohorts on this forum...a real file geodatabase.

I generally don't make maps, I generally don't need real world data and when it comes to most things, a geometry type is a geometry type, maybe with its own personality, but the same-ish is good enough.

What I really need to do is find simple things. Python scripts...text files...*.png images for manuals, *.wpd (yes WordPerfect) and the odd *.doc/docx file.

This led me to the distraction ... simply explore the os module, specifically os.walk which of course led me to arcpy.da.walk and somewhere along the path...the time and datetime modules.  I got sidetracked into Python's Mini Formatting Language, the collections module (again!) and base python object properties and how some properties are not as overtly exposed as others.  The later one, will be the focus of my next post.

So for now...here is my documentation and the script that meets my simple needs.

In the if __name__ == '__main__':  section, you can change the source folder, the file extension you are looking for.  All other 'crap'...whether you want to get creation/modification/some-other-time option have been stripped back.

I have written in a style as noted in the script header.  I could turn it into a toolbox tool...but why...I have emailed it to myself...could use "the cloud", but that sounds pretentious and downright '60's.

"""
Script:    files_in_path.py
Path:      F:\A0_Main\
Author:    Dan.Patterson@carleton.ca

Created:   2015-05-25
Modified:  2015-05-25  (last change date)
Purpose:   To find all scripts with an 'ending' in a path
Notes:
  As verbose as possible. No error checking is intentional, to minimize
  bloat to permit verbosity (If you follow that...good).
References:
Size .......
  PEP 8: "For sequences, (strings, lists, tuples), use the fact that empty
          sequences are false."
- this applies to any sequence that has a len, __len__ method, such as
  collections.Counter, collections.OrderedDict etc
  - see empty_tests.py for more discussion
  >>> objs = [ [],(),{},"",[1],(1),{1:"one"},"1",None,True,1,False,0]
  >>> is_empty = [ not i for i in objs ]  # not used, but useful
  >>> print is_empty .....
  -
 - for NumPy arrays use size:
     x = np.array([[],[]]) ==> len(x) == 2, x.size == 0
Time ......
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/237079/

http://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/48537/how-to-make-a-gis-inventory

"""
import sys
import os
import datetime
def mod_time(folder,case):
    """obtain the modified time for the file and path
       get the file name, the modification time,
       convert to readable time, then format
    """
    f = os.path.join(folder,case)            
    t =os.path.getmtime(f)                    
    out = datetime.datetime.fromtimestamp(t)
    out = '{:%Y_%m_%d %H:%M:%S}'.format(out)
    return out
def os_walk(src_folder,ending="py"):
    """folder, file type ending, return creation time... returns a message
       Now walk the walk, getting the files that have the specified ending
       (ie. *.py) in the folder and its subfolders.
    """
    msg = ("\n.....File path: ..... {}".format(src_folder))
    for folder, subfolders, files in os.walk(src_folder):
        case_files = [ f for f in files if f.endswith(ending)]
        if case_files:
            counter = 0
            msg += ("\nFolder:... {}".format(folder))
            for case in case_files:
                counter+=1
                t = mod_time(folder,case)
                msg += ("\n ({:02d}) {: <25s} {}".format(counter,case,t))
            del case,case_files
    return msg
#----------------------------------------------------------
if __name__ == '__main__':
    """change the folder, ending etc below """
    src_folder =  r"F:\Writing_Projects" #r"F:\\"
    ending = "py"
    get_time = True
    #
    msg = os_walk(src_folder,ending=ending)
    print msg
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Oh yes... I forgot... highlight...copy...paste output into Notepad++, or your wordprocessor and print/save from there.  I could write the code, but someone has to have homework.

Enjoy