How to create an in-memory zip file with directories without touching the disk?

Question

In a python web application, I'm packaging up some stuff in a zip-file. I want to do this completely on the fly, in memory, without touching the disk. This goes fine using ZipFile.writestr as long as I'm creating a flat directory structure, but how do I create directories inside the zip?

I'm using python2.4.

http://docs.python.org/library/zipfile.html

Have you tried simply setting the filename of a file to add to 'directory/filename.ext'? — theomega, Aug 31 '10 at 15:01

score 33 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 01 '10 at 09:51

33

What 'theomega' said in the comment to my original post, adding a '/' in the filename does the trick. Thanks!

from zipfile import ZipFile
from StringIO import StringIO

inMemoryOutputFile = StringIO()

zipFile = ZipFile(inMemoryOutputFile, 'w') 
zipFile.writestr('OEBPS/content.xhtml', 'hello world')
zipFile.close()

inMemoryOutputFile.seek(0)

answered Sep 01 '10 at 09:51

pthulin

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Note that if you're using python 3 then you'll want to use [`BytesIO`](https://docs.python.org/3/library/io.html). – Panda Jun 11 '15 at 15:19
And if you just want to have folders without files, leave a `/` at the end. – Guillaume Lebreton Jan 26 '18 at 09:41
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Important is that inMemoryOutputFile is actually sent and not the zipFile object. – Quinten C Mar 29 '20 at 03:52

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:53

1

Use a StringIO. It is apparently OK to use them for zipfiles.

edited May 23 '17 at 11:53

Community

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answered Aug 31 '10 at 15:46

Katriel

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We do this also. Works very nicely. – S.Lott Aug 31 '10 at 15:47
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@AnotherParker If you have a more modern solution, please post and I will upvote – Gillespie Oct 17 '17 at 18:06

How to create an in-memory zip file with directories without touching the disk?

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