Python changing file name - python-3.x

Question

My application offers the ability to the user to export its results. My application exports text files with name Exp_Text_1, Exp_Text_2 etc. I want it so that if a file with the same file name pre-exists in Desktop then to start counting from this number upwards. For example if a file with name Exp_Text_3 is already in Desktop, then I want the file to be created to have the name Exp_Text_4.
This is my code:
if len(str(self.Output_Box.get("1.0", "end"))) == 1:
self.User_Line_Text.set("Nothing to export!")
else:
import os.path
self.txt_file_num = self.txt_file_num + 1
file_name = os.path.join(os.path.expanduser("~"), "Desktop", "Exp_Txt" + "_" + str(self.txt_file_num) + ".txt")
file = open(file_name, "a")
file.write(self.Output_Box.get("1.0", "end"))
file.close()
self.User_Line_Text.set("A text file has been exported to Desktop!")

Answer 1

you likely want os.path.exists:
>>> import os
>>> help(os.path.exists)
Help on function exists in module genericpath:
exists(path)
Test whether a path exists. Returns False for broken symbolic links
a very basic example would be create a file name with a formatting mark to insert the number for multiple checks:
import os
name_to_format = os.path.join(os.path.expanduser("~"), "Desktop", "Exp_Txt_{}.txt")
#the "{}" is a formatting mark so we can do file_name.format(num)
num = 1
while os.path.exists(name_to_format.format(num)):
num+=1
new_file_name = name_to_format.format(num)
this would check each filename starting with Exp_Txt_1.txt then Exp_Txt_2.txt etc. until it finds one that does not exist.
However the format mark may cause a problem if curly brackets {} are part of the rest of the path, so it may be preferable to do something like this:
import os
def get_file_name(num):
return os.path.join(os.path.expanduser("~"), "Desktop", "Exp_Txt_" + str(num) + ".txt")
num = 1
while os.path.exists(get_file_name(num)):
num+=1
new_file_name = get_file_name(num)
EDIT: answer to why don't we need get_file_name function in first example?
First off if you are unfamiliar with str.format you may want to look at Python doc - common string operations and/or this simple example:
text = "Hello {}, my name is {}."
x = text.format("Kotropoulos","Tadhg")
print(x)
print(text)
The path string is figured out with this line:
name_to_format = os.path.join(os.path.expanduser("~"), "Desktop", "Exp_Txt_{}.txt")
But it has {} in the place of the desired number. (since we don't know what the number should be at this point) so if the path was for example:
name_to_format = "/Users/Tadhg/Desktop/Exp_Txt_{}.txt"
then we can insert a number with:
print(name_to_format.format(1))
print(name_to_format.format(2))
and this does not change name_to_format since str objects are Immutable so the .format returns a new string without modifying name_to_format. However we would run into a problem if out path was something like these:
name_to_format = "/Users/Bob{Cat}/Desktop/Exp_Txt_{}.txt"
#or
name_to_format = "/Users/Bobcat{}/Desktop/Exp_Txt_{}.txt"
#or
name_to_format = "/Users/Smiley{:/Desktop/Exp_Txt_{}.txt"
Since the formatting mark we want to use is no longer the only curly brackets and we can get a variety of errors:
KeyError: 'Cat'
IndexError: tuple index out of range
ValueError: unmatched '{' in format spec
So you only want to rely on str.format when you know it is safe to use. Hope this helps, have fun coding!