Python Novice Question - Get a list of files in a directory with particular extension

[SheriNorton]

I need to generate a list of all files in a directory with a *.MDB extension (personal geodatabases) in a Python script. Should I first split the path and filenames:

dirname = "C:\Arcwork"
(filepath, filename) = os.path.split(dirname)

and then somehow split the filename into name and extension (how?!), or vice versa?

[ChrisMathers]

I would:

dirlist=os.listdir(r"C:\Arcwork")
mdblist=[]
for item in dirlist:
    if item[-3:] in ['MDB','mdb']
        mdblist.append(item)

its kind of wordy and a bit brute-force but it works 😛

[SheriNorton]

Thanks - tried this but validation returns a syntax error.

[BBicking1]

Thanks - tried this but validation returns a syntax error.

Hi...

MBldr's Iterate Files [ArcGIS10] with File Extension set to .mdb will do what you want. Connect the Collect Values ModelOnly Tool to the iterator's output to get the list. Note though at this time the list is not export-able or save-able.

Barbara Bicking
GeoprocessingTeam

[SheriNorton]

I've tweaked the code:

import os

dirlist=os.listdir("c:\\Arcwork")
mdblist=[]
for item in dirlist:
    if item.endswith("mdb"):
        print item
        mdblist.append[item]

print mdblist
_____________________________
But I get this error: do I need to import another module to use the "Append'?
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Python26\ArcGIS10.0\Lib\site-packages\Pythonwin\pywin\framework\scriptutils.py", line 325, in RunScript
    exec codeObject in __main__.__dict__
  File "C:\Arcwork\GetMasterMDBList.py", line 8, in <module>
    mdblist.append[item]
TypeError: 'builtin_function_or_method' object is unsubscriptable

[DanPatterson_Retired]

append uses round brackets

>>> a_list = []
>>> for i in [1,2,3,4]:
...  a_list.append(i)
...  
>>> print a_list
[1, 2, 3, 4]
>>> 

[KarlOrmer]

You want to call a method. You call objects by using round brackets.

clm42's snippet misses a `:` at the end of line 4.

Please note that Python is case-sensitive. Your attempt will fail if a file is - for whatever reason - called .MDB, .mDb or .mDB.

>>> a = 'test.MDB'
>>> a.endswith('mdb')
False

Therefore you need to "convert" your item variable to lower-case before testing for 'mdb'

>>> a = 'test.MDB'
>>> a.lower()
'test.mdb'
>>> a.lower().endswith('mdb')
True

This adds up to:

dirlist=os.listdir("c:\\Arcwork")
mdblist=[]
for item in dirlist:
    if item.lower().endswith("mdb"):
        print item
        mdblist.append(item)

print mdblist

[SheriNorton]

Presto!!! Thanks so much to you all. :o) I promise to be on the "giving" side down the road... Have a terrific weekend.

-Sheri

[Luke_Pinner]

Better late than never 🙂

import glob
for mdb in glob.glob('c:\\Arcwork\\*.mdb'):
    print mdb

The above snippet will return *.mdb and *.MDB (and *.MdB etc.) on case-insensitive filesystems, such as Windows.
For maximum portability, use something like:

for mdb in glob.glob(os.path.join(searchdir,*.[mM][dD][bB]')):
    print mdb

[SheriNorton]

Neat - thanks Luke! Sounds like this should work for Windows as well as Unix platform? I'll give a shot this morning. It's good to see there's usually more than one way of "skinning the cat".