Introduction
Python is a powerful programming language that can be used for a wide range of tasks. One of those tasks is organizing files. With just a few lines of code, you can create a script that will sort your files into folders based on their extension.
This can be a huge time-saver, and it can help you keep your computer organized with very little effort. This article will see how to do it.
Writing dictionary
First will create a default dictionary extension.
The key will be the extension and the value will be for the folder name
extensions = {
"jpg": "images",
"png": "images",
"ico": "images",
"gif": "images",
"svg": "images",
"sql": "sql",
"exe": "programs",
"msi": "programs",
"pdf": "pdf",
"xlsx": "excel",
"csv": "excel",
"rar": "archive",
"zip": "archive",
"gz": "archive",
"tar": "archive",
"docx": "word",
"torrent": "torrent",
"txt": "text",
"ipynb": "python",
"pptx": "powerpoint",
"ppt": "powerpoint",
"mp3": "audio",
"wav": "audio",
"mp4": "video",
"m3u8": "video",
"webm": "video",
"ts": "video",
"json": "json",
"css": "web",
"js": "web",
"html": "web",
"apk": "apk",
"sqlite3": "sqlite3",
}
Creating two functions
After that will use pickle to create, update or access a dictionary extension file.
Pickle stands for "portable, self-describing data", and is a Python file format that can store an object's structure. This means that when you need to find your stored data in the future, it doesn't need to be decoded - only converted back into objects and data.
We will create two functions: one that gets the data from the file and another that updates the information in the file.
# Geting the data form the file or `returning None`
def get_dict_extensions_file_data():
loaded_dict = None
try:
with open('saved_extensions.pkl', 'rb') as f:
loaded_dict = pickle.load(f)
return loaded_dict
except FileNotFoundError:
return loaded_dict
# updating data or creating a file if not exists
def update_dict_extensions_file_data(dict_extensions):
try:
with open('saved_extensions.pkl', 'wb') as f:
pickle.dump(dict_extensions, f)
except FileNotFoundError:
raise FileNotFoundError
Printing file data (extension => folder name)
Then let's create a file, then will print data from the file to see what extension will be moved to what folder name.
# first we call the `update_dict_extensions` to create a file with default data from dictionary `extensions`.
# checking if file exists, if not, passing dictionary extensions to create one
if get_dict_extensions_file_data() is not None:
update_dict_extensions_file_data(get_dict_extensions_file_data())
else:
update_dict_extensions_file_data(extensions)
# printing data from the file
print("All extensions with folder names\n")
for key, value in get_dict_extensions_file_data().items():
print("Extension: " + key + " => Folder: " + value)
# Extension: jpg => Folder: images
# Extension: png => Folder: images
# Extension: ico => Folder: images
# Extension: gif => Folder: images
# Extension: svg => Folder: images
# Extension: sql => Folder: sql
# Extension: exe => Folder: programs
# Extension: msi => Folder: programs
# Extension: pdf => Folder: pdf
# ....
Adding a custom extension to the file
Now let's make a user be enabled to add new extensions to the file.
print(
"If you don't see an extension that you want to organize add a custom one, or you can change the folder name of the extension that exists")
custom = input("Do you like to add custom extension or change folder name? y/n\n")
extensions = get_dict_extensions_file_data()
while True:
if custom.lower() == 'y':
extensions.update({input("Enter an extension without a dot\n"): input("Enter a name for the folder\n")})
update_dict_extensions_file_data(extensions)
if custom.lower() == 'n':
break
custom = input("Do you want to add more? y/n")
Path to be organization.
Now create input for a path that will be organized.
path = input("Ender full path, that you want to be organized\n") # r"/home/sammy-code/Downloads"
Organization function
Now we can create a function that organizes files in a specific path.
We will import os, glob and shutil.
def file_organization(path, file_extensions):
# checking if folder exists if not try again(using recrusion)
if not os.path.exists(path):
print("Folder not found")
path = input("Ender full path, that you want to be organized\n")
file_organization(path, file_extensions)
else:
for extension, folder_name in file_extensions.items():
files = glob.glob(os.path.join(path, f"*.{extension}"))
print(f"[*] {len(files)} files was found with {extension} extension")
if not os.path.isdir(os.path.join(path, folder_name)) and files:
# create the folder if it does not exist.
print(f"[+] Folder with {folder_name} name was created")
os.mkdir(os.path.join(path, folder_name))
for file in files:
# for each file in that extension, move it to the corresponding folder
basename = os.path.basename(file)
dst = os.path.join(path, folder_name, basename)
print(f"[*] Moving {file} to {dst}")
shutil.move(file, dst)
file_organization(path, get_dict_extensions_file_data())
Running the program
And now let's try to run a file:
$ python file_organization.py
# Extension: jpg => Folder: images
# Extension: png => Folder: images
# Extension: ico => Folder: images
# Extension: gif => Folder: images
# Extension: svg => Folder: images
# Extension: sql => Folder: SQL
# ......
# If you don't see an extension that you want to organize add a custom one, or you can change the folder name of the extension that exists.
# Do you like to add a custom extension or change the folder name? y/n
# y
# Enter a folder name:
# python folder
# Enter an extension without a dot:
# py
# Do you want to add more? y/n
# n
# Ender full path, that you want to be organized
# /home/user/Downloads
# ........
# [*] 0 files was found with apk extension
# [*] 0 files was found with sqlite3 extension
# [*] 1 files was found with py extension
# [+] Folder with python name was created
# [*] Moving /home/sammy-code/Downloads/some_pyton.py to /home/sammy-code/Downloads/python/some_pyton.py
Full code: GitHub