Files & data
Read and write files safely; parse JSON, CSV, and common text formats.
How to Archive Old Files by Age in Python
Move files older than a specified number of days from a source directory to an archive directory using Python's pathlib and shutil modules.
import os
import shutil
import time
from pathlib import Path
def archive_old_files(source_dir: str, archive_dir: str, days_old: int) -> None:
cutoff_time = time.time() - (days_old * 86400) # 86400 seconds in a day
archive_path = Path(archive_dir)
archive_path.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
for i…How to Audit Environment Variable Files for Missing Values in Python
A Python tool that reads an environment variable file and reports any variables with empty or missing values.
import os
import re
from pathlib import Path
def audit_env_file(filepath: str) -> None:
"""
Audit an environment variable file for missing values.
Prints file status and lists variables that have empty values.
"""
path = Path(filepath)
if not path.exists():
print(f"Error: File '{filepa…How to Automatically Extract Every Archive in a Folder with Python
Walk through a folder and extract all ZIP, RAR, and 7Z archives into separate subdirectories using Python.
import zipfile
import rarfile
import py7zr
import pathlib
def extract_archives(folder: str):
"""Extract every ZIP, RAR, and 7Z archive in the given folder."""
folder_path = pathlib.Path(folder)
for archive_file in folder_path.iterdir():
suffix = archive_file.suffix.lower()
try:
…How to Automatically Merge Hundreds of Excel Files Without Losing Formatting in Python
Merge all .xlsx files in a folder into a single Excel workbook, preserving individual sheet structures with sheet name prefixes.
import pandas as pd
from pathlib import Path
def merge_excel_files(folder_path: str, output_path: str) -> None:
"""
Merge all .xlsx files in a folder into a single Excel file,
preserving individual sheet structures.
"""
folder = Path(folder_path)
excel_files = list(folder.glob("*.xlsx"))
…How to Build a CSV Comparison Tool That Highlights Every Changed Cell in Python
Read two CSV files with DictReader, compare cell by cell, and return a list of dictionaries describing each changed cell using only the standard library.
import csv
from pathlib import Path
def csv_cell_diff(file_a: str, file_b: str) -> list[dict]:
rows_a = list(csv.DictReader(Path(file_a).open('r', newline='')))
rows_b = list(csv.DictReader(Path(file_b).open('r', newline='')))
if not rows_a or not rows_b:
return []
columns = list(rows_a[0].key…How to Convert Images Between Formats in Python
Use the Pillow library to open an image from one file format and save it to another, with error handling for missing files or conversion issues.
from PIL import Image
import sys
def convert_image_format(input_path, output_path):
try:
img = Image.open(input_path)
img.save(output_path)
print(f"Converted {input_path} to {output_path}")
except FileNotFoundError:
print(f"Error: File {input_path} not found")
sys.exit(…How to Extract Text from PDF Files in Python
Extract all readable text from a PDF file using PyPDF2, iterating over each page and concatenating the content.
import PyPDF2
def extract_text_from_pdf(pdf_path):
text = ""
with open(pdf_path, "rb") as file:
reader = PyPDF2.PdfReader(file)
for page in reader.pages:
text += page.extract_text() + "\n"
return text.strip()
if __name__ == "__main__":
pdf_path = "sample.pdf"
extracted…How to Fetch Weather Data from a Public API in Python
Fetches and parses weather data from a free public API using only the Python standard library.
import urllib.request
import json
def get_weather(city):
base_url = f"https://wttr.in/{city}?format=j1"
with urllib.request.urlopen(base_url) as response:
data = json.loads(response.read().decode())
current = data["current_condition"][0]
temp = current["temp_C"]
desc = current["weatherDesc…How to Find HTML Elements by Tag, Class, ID, CSS Selector, and Attribute in BeautifulSoup
Parse an HTML string with BeautifulSoup and demonstrate five distinct ways to locate elements: by tag name, by class, by ID, by CSS selector, and by attribute.
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup
html_content = """
<html><body>
<h1 id="title" class="heading">Hello World</h1>
<p class="content">First paragraph</p>
<p class="content special">Second paragraph</p>
<a href="https://example.com" class="link">Click here</a>
<div id="footer">
<p>© 2024</p>
…How to Generate Beautiful QR Codes with Embedded Logos in Python
Generate a high-error-correction QR code and paste a logo image in the center to create a branded, scannable QR code.
import qrcode
from PIL import Image
def generate_qr_with_logo(data, logo_path, output_path):
qr = qrcode.QRCode(
version=1,
error_correction=qrcode.constants.ERROR_CORRECT_H,
box_size=10,
border=4,
)
qr.add_data(data)
qr.make(fit=True)
qr_img = qr.make_image(fill_c…How to Generate an Inventory Report of All Files in Python
Walk a directory tree, collect metadata for every file, and write a CSV inventory report using Python's os, pathlib, and csv modules.
import os
import csv
from pathlib import Path
from datetime import datetime
def generate_inventory_report(root_dir: str = "/", output_file: str = "inventory_report.csv"):
headers = ["File Path", "Size (bytes)", "Last Modified", "File Type"]
rows = []
start_time = datetime.now()
for dirpath, dirna…How to Record Audio from Your Microphone in Python
Record audio from your default microphone using PyAudio and save it as a WAV file with a simple reusable function.
import pyaudio
import wave
def record_audio(filename: str, duration: int = 5, sample_rate: int = 44100, chunk: int = 1024):
"""Record audio from default microphone and save as WAV file."""
audio_format = pyaudio.paInt16 # 16-bit resolution
channels = 1 # Mono
p = pyaudio.PyAudio()
stre…How to Scrape Headlines from a News Website Using Beautiful Soup in Python
Scrape headline text from a news website using requests and Beautiful Soup with a CSS selector.
import requests
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup
def scrape_headlines(url: str, selector: str) -> list:
"""
Scrape headlines from a news website using Beautiful Soup.
Args:
url: The URL of the news website.
selector: CSS selector for headline elements.
Returns:
List of h…How to Sync Two Folders in Python (Lightweight Backup)
A Python script that synchronizes a source folder to a destination folder, copying new or updated files and removing files that no longer exist in the source.
import os
import shutil
import sys
from pathlib import Path
def sync_folders(src: Path, dst: Path):
"""Sync src folder to dst folder, copying missing/updated files."""
dst.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
for src_path in src.rglob("*"):
relative = src_path.relative_to(src)
dst_path = ds…Merge Multiple PDF Files into One Document in Python
Combines multiple PDF files into a single PDF document using the PyPDF2 library's PdfMerger class.
import PyPDF2
def merge_pdfs(input_paths, output_path):
merger = PyPDF2.PdfMerger()
for path in input_paths:
merger.append(path)
merger.write(output_path)
merger.close()
print(f"Merged {len(input_paths)} PDFs into '{output_path}'.")
if __name__ == "__main__":
files = ["file1.pdf", "fi…Scrape HTML Tables and Convert Them to CSV Using Beautiful Soup in Python
Scrape a Wikipedia table with Beautiful Soup and write the data to a CSV file using the csv module.
import requests
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup
import csv
url = "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)"
response = requests.get(url)
soup = BeautifulSoup(response.text, 'html.parser')
tables = soup.find_all('table', {'class': 'wikitable'})
if tables:
target_table = tables[2]
rows =…Split CSV Files into Smaller Chunks in Python
Splits a large CSV file into multiple smaller chunk files, preserving the header row in each chunk.
import csv
import os
def split_csv(input_file, chunk_size=1000, output_prefix="chunk"):
"""Split a large CSV file into smaller chunks."""
with open(input_file, 'r', newline='') as infile:
reader = csv.reader(infile)
header = next(reader)
file_count = 1
row_count = 0
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