How do I skip os.makedirs if the folder already exists?

Question

I'm writing a program that needs a folder to be created in the user's Documents folder. It runs perfectly the first time it is executed but fails if it is executed more than once. I'm using the os.makedirs function and it fails because the folder already exists after the first execution. How do I skip the os.makedirs function if the folder already exists?

path = "/home/" + username + "/Documents/Keys"
    try:
        os.makedirs(path)
        filename = "file%s.txt" % random
        with open("/home/" + str(username) + "/Documents/Keys/" + filename, 'w') as f:
            f.write(str(createkey) + " " + random + " " +  d)
            sys.exit()
    except OSError:
        print "There was a problem generating the key"

Expected Result: If the folder has already been created; it should skip over the os.makedirs function, and execute the rest of the code.

With Python 3.2 onwards you can pass a parameter `exist_ok=True`. See https://docs.python.org/3/library/os.html#os.makedirs — Peter Wood, Oct 03 '19 at 22:08
Already answered [here](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/273192/how-can-i-safely-create-a-nested-directory/14364249#14364249). — Asclepius, Oct 03 '19 at 22:09

score 2 · Answer 1 · edited Oct 03 '19 at 22:41

2

Hope this helps:

import os

if not(os.path.exists(path) and os.path.isdir(path)):
    os.makedirs(SCREENSHOT_DIR)

edited Oct 03 '19 at 22:41

Asclepius

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answered Oct 03 '19 at 22:10

Sudharsana Rajasekaran

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Instead of `~`, use `not`. The former is a bitwise operation in Python. – Asclepius Oct 03 '19 at 22:41

How do I skip os.makedirs if the folder already exists?

1 Answers1