File Counter in python or last 5 files

Question

I am trying to get a list of the 5 most recently imported pictures into a folder to feed into a function loading them into a contact sheet.

I have a program bringing in files and it uses a counter to name them 00001, 00002 etc... I was thinking something like

while blah:
N = '0000'x
x = x+1

but this breaks down when you get above 10, because now it's 00010.

I feel like I should be able to figure this out, but it's totally escaping me.

on the other hand, if I could just have the program load the X newest files into the function, that would also work great.

Image names are run through this formula.

 imgs = [Image.open(fn).resize((photow,photoh)) for fn in fnames]

so I think they need to be in the format ('00001.jpg','00002.jpg','00003.jpg'.....)

thanks for help.

Maciej Gol · Accepted Answer · 2013-11-10T21:43:19.983

2

>>> '{:05}'.format(10)
00010

As for sorting files based on this numbering:

import os

# List all files in current directory
files = os.listdir('.')
recent_images = sorted(files)[-5:]

edited Nov 10 '13 at 21:43

answered Nov 10 '13 at 21:38

Maciej Gol

for the listdir command, is there a way to get only files with a certain extension. It keeps adding thumbs.db to the file list... – jeffpkamp Nov 10 '13 at 22:15
You could try `files = ifilter(lambda x: x.endswith('.'), os.listdir('.'))` – Maciej Gol Nov 10 '13 at 23:09

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:12

1

on the other hand, if I could just have the program load the X newest files into the function, that would also work great.

You can use os.path.getmtime and sorted to get a list of most recently changed file:

>>> import os
>>> sorted(filenames, key=lambda x:os.path.getmtime(x), reverse=True)[:5]

edited May 23 '17 at 12:12

Community

answered Nov 10 '13 at 21:42

Ashwini Chaudhary

2 Answers2