see if local directory exists

Question

print(os.path.isdir("~/.my_dir"))

the command should return True, if exists, and False, if not. Anyways, it returns False if specified folder exists, or does not.


dir = os.path.isdir('/.databases')
dirfile = os.path.exists('~/.databases/database.db')

if (dir == False):
    os.system('mkdir ~/.databases')
elif (dir == True):
    if dirfile == False:
        os.mknod('~/.databases/database.db')
        start()
    elif dirfile == True:
        db = ("~/.databases/database.db")
        main(db)
    else:
        print('Error 1')
else:
    print('Error 2')

That's the code i've been trying to fix for now 2 hours. it returns following error:

mkdir: cannot create directory ‘/home/username/.databases’: File exists

Again, the problem is, that the command returns False whenever it needs to be True.

stop using ~ in your python code. Use the full, absolute path, always. — JacobIRR, Jul 14 '20 at 22:14
@JacobIRR I'm sharing the file, so i dont know the username . I want the directory to home directory — vitunvelho555, Jul 14 '20 at 22:15
In case of Linux, you can use the environment variable `$HOME`. — Balázs, Jul 14 '20 at 22:19
it may be simpler to use the `-p` switch for `mkdir`, if available. e.g. `os.system('mkdir -p ~/.databases')` then you can (in this case) forget about whether it already exists or not — L.Grozinger, Jul 14 '20 at 22:25

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 14 '20 at 22:14

0

You are missing the ~ from the first path.

It should be:

dir = os.path.isdir('~/.databases')

You can also simplify your if/else:

if os.path.isdir('~/.databases'):
    print('dir')
else:
    print('not dir')

answered Jul 14 '20 at 22:14

Balázs

496
3
8

score 0 · Answer 2 · 2020-07-14T22:20:14.477

0

Try this:

import os
dir = os.path.isdir('~/.databases')
dirfile = os.path.isfile('~/.databases/database.db')

if dir:
    if dirfile:
        db = ("~/.databases/database.db")
        main(db)
    else:
        os.mknod('~/.databases/database.db')
        start()
else:
    os.mkdir('~/.databases')

edited Jul 14 '20 at 22:20

answered Jul 14 '20 at 22:16

still, returns following "mkdir: cannot create directory ‘/home/howl/.databases’: File exists" – vitunvelho555 Jul 14 '20 at 22:18
What about this changed one? – Jul 14 '20 at 22:20

see if local directory exists

2 Answers2