Re: Searching for a file

On 5/27/2025 10:41 AM, Roland Mueller via Python-list wrote:
> To get a list of files in a given directory one can use glob.glob and

The OP had a different problem.  He wanted to find a config file of 
known name that could be in one of several locations.

> os.path.isfile
> 
>>>> from os.path import isfile
>>>> from glob import glob
>>>> files_in_var_tmp = [f for f in glob('/var/tmp/*') if isfile(f) ]
> 
> For several directories iterate over the dirs and add the resulting list of
> files.
> 
>>>> tmp_files = []
>>>> for dir in ['/tmp', '/var/tmp']:
> ...     tmp_files += [f for f in glob(dir + '/*')  if isfile(f) ]
> 
> 
> ti 27.5.2025 klo 17.05 Peter J. Holzer ([email protected]) kirjoitti:
> 
>> 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
>>
>> --
>>     _  | Peter J. Holzer    | Story must make more sense than reality.
>> |_|_) |                    |
>> | |   | [email protected]         |    -- Charles Stross, "Creative writing
>> __/   | http://www.hjp.at/ |       challenge!"
>> --
>> https://mail.python.org/mailman3//lists/python-list.python.org
>>