Filenames and file paths in Python

[DanPatterson_Retired]

UPDATE: 2019-06-25

Test your paths

def check_path(out_fc):
    """Check for a filegeodatabase and a filename"""
    msg = dedent(check_path.__doc__)
    _punc_ = '!"#$%&\'()*+,-;<=>?@[]^`~}{ '
    flotsam = " ".join([i for i in _punc_])  # " ... plus the `space`"
    fail = False
    if (".gdb" not in fc) or np.any([i in fc for i in flotsam]):
        fail = True
    pth = fc.replace("\\", "/").split("/")
    name = pth[-1]
    if (len(pth) == 1) or (name[-4:] == ".gdb"):
        fail = True
    if fail:
        tweet(msg)
        return (None, None)
    gdb = "/".join(pth[:-1])
    return gdb, name‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

What 'flotsam' in the _punc_ list do you use? 

Is it a work restriction? 

Did you work institute 'dot' user names than have to backtrack and replace them with underscores?

Would love to hear the stories.

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Warnings

People still continue to be confused about file path naming conventions when using python. Please take the time to read.  Python 3.x is used in ArcGIS Pro so you may encounter a new problem...

pth = "C:\Users\dan_p\AppData\Local\ESRI\ArcGISPro"
  File "<ipython-input-66-5b37dd76b72d>", line 1
    pth = "C:\Users\dan_p\AppData\Local\ESRI\ArcGISPro"
         ^
SyntaxError: (unicode error) 'unicodeescape' codec can't decode bytes in position 2-3: truncated \UXXXXXXXX escape

# ---- the fix is still raw encoding

pth = r"C:\Users\dan_p\AppData\Local\ESRI\ArcGISPro"

pth

'C:\\Users\\dan_p\\AppData\\Local\\ESRI\\ArcGISPro'‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

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READINGS: String and bytes literals

Still not allowed

pth = r"C:\Users\dan_p\AppData\Local\ESRI\ArcGISPro\"   # ---- note the \ at the end

  File "<ipython-input-86-70ede0dfa3fe>", line 1
    pth = r"C:\Users\dan_p\AppData\Local\ESRI\ArcGISPro\"
                                                         ^
SyntaxError: EOL while scanning string literal   # ---- which means you 'escaped' the "‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

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HISTORY:   take the poll first before you read on

I am sure everyone is sick of hearing ... check your filenames and paths and make sure there is no X or Y.  Well, this is going to be a work in progress which demonstrates where things go wrong while maintaining the identity of the guilty.

Think about it

>>> import arcpy >>> aoi = "f:\test\a" >>> arcpy.env.workspace = aoi >>> print(arcpy.env.workspace) f: est >>> ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍ >>> print(os.path.abspath(arcpy.env.workspace)) F:\ est >>> print(os.path.exists(arcpy.env.workspace)) False >>> print(arcpy.Exists(arcpy.env.workspace)) False >>> >>> print("{!r:}".format(arcpy.env.workspace)) 'f:\test\x07' >>> ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍ >>> os.listdir(aoi) Traceback (most recent call last): File "<interactive input>", line 1, in <module> OSError: [WinError 123] The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect: 'f:\test\x07' >>> ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍ >>> arcpy.ListWorkspaces("*","Folder") >>> >>> "!r:{}".format(arcpy.ListWorkspaces("*","Folder")) '!r:None' >>> ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

Examples... Rules broken and potential fixes

Total garbage... as well as way too long.  Time to buy an extra drive. >>> x ="c:\somepath\aSubfolder\very_long\no_good\nix\this" >>> print(x) # str notation c:\somepath Subfolder ery_long o_good ix his >>> print("{!r:}".format(x)) # repr notation 'c:\\somepath\x07Subfolder\x0bery_long\no_good\nix\this' >>> ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍ No r in front of the path. \a \b \n \t \v are all escape characters... check the result Notice the difference between plain str and repr notation -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Solution 1... raw format >>> x = r"c:\somepath\aSubfolder\very_long\no_good\nix\this" >>> print(x) # str notation c:\somepath\aSubfolder\very_long\no_good\nix\this >>> print("{!r:}".format(x)) # repr notation 'c:\\somepath\\aSubfolder\\very_long\\no_good\\nix\\this' >>> ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍ Use raw formatting, the little r in front goes a long way. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Solution 2... double backslashes >>> x ="c:\\somepath\\aSubfolder\\very_long\\no_good\\nix\\this" >>> print(x) # str notation c:\somepath\aSubfolder\very_long\no_good\nix\this >>> print("{!r:}".format(x)) # repr notation 'c:\\somepath\\aSubfolder\\very_long\\no_good\\nix\\this' >>> ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍ Yes! I cleverly used raw formatting and everything should be fine but notice the difference between str and repr. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Solution 3... forward slashes >>> x ="c:/somepath/aSubfolder/very_long/no_good/nix/this" >>> print(x) # str notation c:/somepath/aSubfolder/very_long/no_good/nix/this >>> print("{!r:}".format(x)) # repr notation 'c:/somepath/aSubfolder/very_long/no_good/nix/this' >>> ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Solution 4... os.path functions There are very useful functions and properties in os.path.  The reader is recommended to examine the contents after importing the os module (ie dir(os.path)  and help(os.path) >>> x = r"F:\Writing_Projects\Before_I_Forget\Scripts\timeit_examples.py" >>> base_name = os.path.basename(x) >>> dir_name = os.path.dirname(x) >>> os.path.split(joined) # see splitdrive, splitext, splitunc ('F:\\Writing_Projects\\Before_I_Forget\\Scripts', 'timeit_examples.py') >>> joined = os.path.join(dir_name,base_name) >>> joined 'F:\\Writing_Projects\\Before_I_Forget\\Scripts\\timeit_examples.py' >>> >>> os.path.exists(joined) True >>> os.path.isdir(dir_name) True >>> os.path.isdir(joined) False >>> ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍ ad nauseum -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gotcha's Fixes often suggest the following ... what can go wrong, if you failed to check. (1) >>> x = "c:\somepath\aSubfolder\very_long\no_good\nix\this" >>> new_folder = x.replace("\\","/") >>> print(x) # str notation c:\somepath Subfolder ery_long o_good ix his >>> print("{!r:}".format(x)) # repr notation 'c:\\somepath\x07Subfolder\x0bery_long\no_good\nix\this' >>> ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍ (2) >>> x = r"c:\new_project\aSubfolder\" File "<string>", line 1 x = r"c:\new_project\aSubfolder\" ^ SyntaxError: EOL while scanning string literal ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍ (3) >>> x = "c:\new_project\New_Data" >>> y = "new_grid" >>> out = x + "\\" + y >>> print(out) c: ew_project\New_Data\new_grid ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍ (4) >>> x = r"c:\new_project\New_Data" >>> z = "\new_grid" >>> out = x + z >>> print(out) c:\new_project\New_Data ew_grid ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍ (5)  This isn't going to happen again! >>> x = r"c:\new_project\New_Data" >>> z = r"\new_grid" >>> out = x + y >>> print(out) c:\new_project\New_Datanew_grid ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍ (6)  Last try >>> x = r"c:\new_project\New_Data" >>> z = r"new_grid" >>> please = x + "\\" + z >>> print(please) c:\new_project\New_Data\new_grid ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍ Well this isn't good!   Lesson?  Get it right the first time. Remember the next time someone says... Have you checked your file paths...?????   Remember these examples. Curtis pointed out this helpful link...I will include it here as well Paths explained: Absolute, relative, UNC, and URL—Help | ArcGIS for Desktop That's all for now. I will deal with spaces in filenames in an update.  I am not even to go to UNC paths.