create a directory in python

July 18th, 2006 by Lawrence David

assuming you’re running some *nix (including mac os x), here’s how to create a directory from within a python script. note that we need to check if the directory exists before creating a directory (if you try and overwrite a directory, python will throw an error).

here goes:

import os;
…
dirname = “my_dir_name”
if not os.path.isdir(“./” + dirname + “/”):
os.mkdir(“./” + dirname + “/”)

note that the last line needs to be indented (silly blogger won’t let me indent that line!)

Posted in Python | 14 Comments »

if that was helpful ...

check out the other tips and tricks i've compiled on these pages. you might learn something else interesting!

14 Responses to “create a directory in python”

on 24 Mar 2008 at 12:08 am Chris Nicholls

Hey, I randomly found this page on google the other day when I was working on some python stuff. This post helped. Thanks.

But what i actually wanted to comment on was the header at the top of your theme. I think it’s fantastic. Way to go.

Cheers
on 24 Mar 2008 at 7:27 am Lawrence David

it’s what happens when you’ve got too much time on your hands during 1st year of grad school
on 11 Jun 2008 at 12:22 pm Slava

Super!!!
on 01 Jan 2009 at 8:00 pm Create Directory in Python « Always Get Better

[...] needed to learn how to create directories using Python and found this great resource (digression: check out this author’s page headers – way [...]
on 15 May 2009 at 11:13 am Eric Wendelin

Thanks a bunch, this is exactly what I was looking for.
on 30 Jul 2009 at 8:02 pm Aman Aggarwal

Thanks!
on 02 Sep 2009 at 8:22 am NT

Nearly 18 months on I have to echo the first commenter’s thoughts – totally cool header.
on 13 Sep 2009 at 11:00 pm Matthew

This also works on Windows unchanged, but like it better like this:

[code]
dirname = "my_dir_name"
if not os.path.isdir(os.path.join(os.getcwd(), dirname)):
os.mkdir(os.path.join(os.getcwd(), dirname))
[/code]

My $0.02. Nice site BTW.
on 17 Jan 2010 at 12:51 pm Graham

Thanks exactly what I was looking for. Modified Matthew’s code slightly to incorporate recursive directory creation.

#code
import os;

dirname = “mydir”
if not os.path.isdir(os.path.join(os.getcwd(), dirname)):
os.makedirs(os.path.join(os.getcwd(), dirname))
print os.getcwd()
on 22 Jan 2010 at 6:00 am nikunj

Hey, Many thnx for this useful post..!!
on 28 Jul 2011 at 10:01 am Saurabh

this is simply.
exactly what i was looking for.
on 28 Jul 2011 at 10:03 am Saurabh

can you guide me how to create a Remote Directory ?
on 22 Sep 2011 at 2:54 pm Shruti

Cool Story Bro! super cool banner!
on 11 Aug 2012 at 5:41 am Sanket

Thanks a lot it helped me.

Did I get this wrong? Let me know!

Trackback URI | Comments RSS

from the desk of stinkpot

tricks!

create a directory in python

if that was helpful ...

14 Responses to “create a directory in python”

Did I get this wrong? Let me know!

Tips & Tricks