CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythonos.path
Ivan
Ivan

Reputation: 64227

Is os.path.isfile always the opposite of os.path.isdir for an existing file system object?

I am to list all the files and directories in a directory with os.listdir and tell them apart reliably. Is it ok to use just os.path.isdir and consider it's a file if it returns false or should I check os.path.isfile anyway? Are there cases when os.path.exists(path) and os.path.isdir(path) == os.path.isfile(path) happens to be true?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 1432

Answers (3)

saifuddin778
saifuddin778

Reputation: 7287

os.path.isdir(path) == os.path.isfile(path) should never hold in all disk file systems I am aware of, as this should mean that the same object is both a dir and a file. For EXT4 specifically, it is my understanding that an inode can either be a directory or a file.

However, the two functions are not defined as mutually exclusive as that would require an assumption about this being true in all possible filesystems, including future ones, and predictions about that are hard.

Upvotes: 0

exe
exe

Reputation: 374

You should be all good to just use os.path.isdir. This only looks for if the path that is inputted is a directory. Otherwise, it is okay to assume it is a file. I have tested to see if any cases of whenos.path.exists(path) and os.path.isdir(path) == os.path.isfile(path) Here are the results.

print(os.path.isdir("C:\\Users\\Kobe Thompson\\Desktop\\Test\\")) print(os.path.exists("C:\\Users\\Kobe Thompson\\Desktop\\Test\\")) print(os.path.isfile("C:\\Users\\Kobe Thompson\\Desktop\\Test\\"))

True, True, False

print(os.path.isdir("C:\\Users\\Kobe Thompson\\Desktop\\Test\\test"))
print(os.path.exists("C:\\Users\\Kobe Thompson\\Desktop\\Test\\"))
print(os.path.isfile("C:\\Users\\Kobe Thompson\\Desktop\\Test\\"))

False, True, False

print(os.path.isdir("C:\\Users\\Kobe Thompson\\Desktop\\Test\\test"))
print(os.path.exists("C:\\Users\\Kobe Thompson\\Desktop\\Test\\test"))
print(os.path.isfile("C:\\Users\\Kobe Thompson\\Desktop\\Test\\"))

False, False, False

print(os.path.isdir("C:\\Users\\Kobe Thompson\\Desktop\\Test\\test"))
print(os.path.exists("C:\\Users\\Kobe Thompson\\Desktop\\Test\\test"))
print(os.path.isfile("C:\\Users\\Kobe Thompson\\Desktop\\Test\\test"))

False, False, False,

As you can see, there are some cases that can relate both of os.path.isdir and os.path.exists equal to os.path.isfile

Upvotes: 1

这个冬天有点冷灬
这个冬天有点冷灬

Reputation: 26

os.path.isdir and os.path.isfile both are ok! os.path.exists(path) and os.path.isdir(path) == os.path.isfile(path) is always False

Upvotes: 1

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