How do I select part of a filename (leave out the extension) in Python?

Question

For example if I have the variable "file.txt", I want to be able to save only "file" to a variable. What I'd like is to eliminate whatever is beyond the last dot (including the dot). So if i had "file.version2.txt", I'd be left with "file.version2". Is there a way to do this?

check this out [remove last n charecters][1] [1]: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10645959/how-do-i-remove-the-last-n-characters-from-a-string — kaushik94, Mar 17 '14 at 14:30
using a combination of `os.path.basename` and `os.path.splitext` seems a good start — El Bert, Mar 17 '14 at 14:36

score 7 · Accepted Answer · edited Mar 17 '14 at 15:06

7

you have to use os.path.splitext

In [3]: os.path.splitext('test.test.txt')
Out[3]: ('test.test', '.txt')
In [4]: os.path.splitext('test.test.txt')[0]
Out[4]: 'test.test'

full reference for similar manipulations can be found here http://docs.python.org/2/library/os.path.html

edited Mar 17 '14 at 15:06

NiRR

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answered Mar 17 '14 at 14:28

Nilesh

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1

This is exactly what I needed. All i needed to add was "import os" before using os.path.splitext – Stefan Urziceanu Mar 17 '14 at 14:36
If you got answer then select it as answer :) – Nilesh Mar 17 '14 at 14:38
1

it tells me I have to wait a few minutes, otherwise I would have :) – Stefan Urziceanu Mar 17 '14 at 14:41
if it tells you to wait then you have to ;) – Nilesh Mar 17 '14 at 14:41

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 17 '14 at 14:30

2

Using the module os.path you can retrieve the full name of the file and then remove the extension:

import os
file_name, file_ext = os.path.splitext(os.path.basename(path_to_your_file))

answered Mar 17 '14 at 14:30

El Bert

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score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 17 '14 at 14:41

1

If this is not too long you can do something like this if the file is in same directory

old_f = 'file.version2.txt'
new_f = old_f.split('.')
sep = '.'
sep.join(new_f[:-1]) # or assign it to a variable current_f = sep.join(new_f[:-1])

answered Mar 17 '14 at 14:41

Gatsby Great

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How do I select part of a filename (leave out the extension) in Python?

3 Answers3