Re: Searching for a file

"Peter J. Holzer" <[email protected]> Tue, 27 May 2025 13:04:49 +0200

Newsgroups	gmane.comp.python.general
Message-ID	<[email protected]>

On 2025-05-24 17:18:11 -0600, Mats Wichmann wrote:
> On 5/23/25 16:05, Rob Cliffe via Python-list wrote:
> > On 23/05/2025 18:55, Mats Wichmann wrote:
> > > On 5/22/25 21:04, Rob Cliffe via Python-list wrote:
> > > > It occurs to me that it might be useful if Python provided a
> > > > function to search for a file with a given name in various
> > > > directories (much as the import.import_lib function searches for
> > > > a module in the directories in sys.path).
> > > > This function would perhaps be best placed in the os.path or os modules.
> > > > To start the ball rolling, I offer this version:
> > > consider: os.walk, glob.glob, Path.glob
> > > 
> > > 
> > I have.  None of these are appropriate.
> > os.walk iterates *recursively* over a *single* directory and its
> > subdirectories.
> > pathlib.Path.glob so far as I can make out (I have never used pathlib)
> > does much the same.
> > glob.glob (so far as I can make out) does a *wildcard* search for
> > directories matching a *single* pattern.
> > My suggestion needs a *non-recursive* search for a *file* in a *list* of
> > *non-wildcarded* directories.
> 
> They don't give you "search in a list of directories" intrinsically, but
> that's simple loop, bailing out on a match, no?

But they all read directories. For Rob's purpose this isn't necessary.
He just needs to test a fixed number of locations. Reading even one
directory (muss less recursively scanning a whole tree like os.walk
does) is just pointless extra work.

        hjp

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   _  | Peter J. Holzer    | Story must make more sense than reality.
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