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1
2:mod:`pathlib` --- Object-oriented filesystem paths
3===================================================
4
5.. module:: pathlib
6   :synopsis: Object-oriented filesystem paths
7
8.. versionadded:: 3.4
9
10**Source code:** :source:`Lib/pathlib.py`
11
12.. index:: single: path; operations
13
14--------------
15
16This module offers classes representing filesystem paths with semantics
17appropriate for different operating systems.  Path classes are divided
18between :ref:`pure paths <pure-paths>`, which provide purely computational
19operations without I/O, and :ref:`concrete paths <concrete-paths>`, which
20inherit from pure paths but also provide I/O operations.
21
22.. image:: pathlib-inheritance.png
23   :align: center
24
25If you've never used this module before or just aren't sure which class is
26right for your task, :class:`Path` is most likely what you need. It instantiates
27a :ref:`concrete path <concrete-paths>` for the platform the code is running on.
28
29Pure paths are useful in some special cases; for example:
30
31#. If you want to manipulate Windows paths on a Unix machine (or vice versa).
32   You cannot instantiate a :class:`WindowsPath` when running on Unix, but you
33   can instantiate :class:`PureWindowsPath`.
34#. You want to make sure that your code only manipulates paths without actually
35   accessing the OS. In this case, instantiating one of the pure classes may be
36   useful since those simply don't have any OS-accessing operations.
37
38.. seealso::
39   :pep:`428`: The pathlib module -- object-oriented filesystem paths.
40
41.. seealso::
42   For low-level path manipulation on strings, you can also use the
43   :mod:`os.path` module.
44
45
46Basic use
47---------
48
49Importing the main class::
50
51   >>> from pathlib import Path
52
53Listing subdirectories::
54
55   >>> p = Path('.')
56   >>> [x for x in p.iterdir() if x.is_dir()]
57   [PosixPath('.hg'), PosixPath('docs'), PosixPath('dist'),
58    PosixPath('__pycache__'), PosixPath('build')]
59
60Listing Python source files in this directory tree::
61
62   >>> list(p.glob('**/*.py'))
63   [PosixPath('test_pathlib.py'), PosixPath('setup.py'),
64    PosixPath('pathlib.py'), PosixPath('docs/conf.py'),
65    PosixPath('build/lib/pathlib.py')]
66
67Navigating inside a directory tree::
68
69   >>> p = Path('/etc')
70   >>> q = p / 'init.d' / 'reboot'
71   >>> q
72   PosixPath('/etc/init.d/reboot')
73   >>> q.resolve()
74   PosixPath('/etc/rc.d/init.d/halt')
75
76Querying path properties::
77
78   >>> q.exists()
79   True
80   >>> q.is_dir()
81   False
82
83Opening a file::
84
85   >>> with q.open() as f: f.readline()
86   ...
87   '#!/bin/bash\n'
88
89
90.. _pure-paths:
91
92Pure paths
93----------
94
95Pure path objects provide path-handling operations which don't actually
96access a filesystem.  There are three ways to access these classes, which
97we also call *flavours*:
98
99.. class:: PurePath(*pathsegments)
100
101   A generic class that represents the system's path flavour (instantiating
102   it creates either a :class:`PurePosixPath` or a :class:`PureWindowsPath`)::
103
104      >>> PurePath('setup.py')      # Running on a Unix machine
105      PurePosixPath('setup.py')
106
107   Each element of *pathsegments* can be either a string representing a
108   path segment, an object implementing the :class:`os.PathLike` interface
109   which returns a string, or another path object::
110
111      >>> PurePath('foo', 'some/path', 'bar')
112      PurePosixPath('foo/some/path/bar')
113      >>> PurePath(Path('foo'), Path('bar'))
114      PurePosixPath('foo/bar')
115
116   When *pathsegments* is empty, the current directory is assumed::
117
118      >>> PurePath()
119      PurePosixPath('.')
120
121   When several absolute paths are given, the last is taken as an anchor
122   (mimicking :func:`os.path.join`'s behaviour)::
123
124      >>> PurePath('/etc', '/usr', 'lib64')
125      PurePosixPath('/usr/lib64')
126      >>> PureWindowsPath('c:/Windows', 'd:bar')
127      PureWindowsPath('d:bar')
128
129   However, in a Windows path, changing the local root doesn't discard the
130   previous drive setting::
131
132      >>> PureWindowsPath('c:/Windows', '/Program Files')
133      PureWindowsPath('c:/Program Files')
134
135   Spurious slashes and single dots are collapsed, but double dots (``'..'``)
136   are not, since this would change the meaning of a path in the face of
137   symbolic links::
138
139      >>> PurePath('foo//bar')
140      PurePosixPath('foo/bar')
141      >>> PurePath('foo/./bar')
142      PurePosixPath('foo/bar')
143      >>> PurePath('foo/../bar')
144      PurePosixPath('foo/../bar')
145
146   (a naïve approach would make ``PurePosixPath('foo/../bar')`` equivalent
147   to ``PurePosixPath('bar')``, which is wrong if ``foo`` is a symbolic link
148   to another directory)
149
150   Pure path objects implement the :class:`os.PathLike` interface, allowing them
151   to be used anywhere the interface is accepted.
152
153   .. versionchanged:: 3.6
154      Added support for the :class:`os.PathLike` interface.
155
156.. class:: PurePosixPath(*pathsegments)
157
158   A subclass of :class:`PurePath`, this path flavour represents non-Windows
159   filesystem paths::
160
161      >>> PurePosixPath('/etc')
162      PurePosixPath('/etc')
163
164   *pathsegments* is specified similarly to :class:`PurePath`.
165
166.. class:: PureWindowsPath(*pathsegments)
167
168   A subclass of :class:`PurePath`, this path flavour represents Windows
169   filesystem paths::
170
171      >>> PureWindowsPath('c:/Program Files/')
172      PureWindowsPath('c:/Program Files')
173
174   *pathsegments* is specified similarly to :class:`PurePath`.
175
176Regardless of the system you're running on, you can instantiate all of
177these classes, since they don't provide any operation that does system calls.
178
179
180General properties
181^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
182
183Paths are immutable and hashable.  Paths of a same flavour are comparable
184and orderable.  These properties respect the flavour's case-folding
185semantics::
186
187   >>> PurePosixPath('foo') == PurePosixPath('FOO')
188   False
189   >>> PureWindowsPath('foo') == PureWindowsPath('FOO')
190   True
191   >>> PureWindowsPath('FOO') in { PureWindowsPath('foo') }
192   True
193   >>> PureWindowsPath('C:') < PureWindowsPath('d:')
194   True
195
196Paths of a different flavour compare unequal and cannot be ordered::
197
198   >>> PureWindowsPath('foo') == PurePosixPath('foo')
199   False
200   >>> PureWindowsPath('foo') < PurePosixPath('foo')
201   Traceback (most recent call last):
202     File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
203   TypeError: '<' not supported between instances of 'PureWindowsPath' and 'PurePosixPath'
204
205
206Operators
207^^^^^^^^^
208
209The slash operator helps create child paths, similarly to :func:`os.path.join`::
210
211   >>> p = PurePath('/etc')
212   >>> p
213   PurePosixPath('/etc')
214   >>> p / 'init.d' / 'apache2'
215   PurePosixPath('/etc/init.d/apache2')
216   >>> q = PurePath('bin')
217   >>> '/usr' / q
218   PurePosixPath('/usr/bin')
219
220A path object can be used anywhere an object implementing :class:`os.PathLike`
221is accepted::
222
223   >>> import os
224   >>> p = PurePath('/etc')
225   >>> os.fspath(p)
226   '/etc'
227
228The string representation of a path is the raw filesystem path itself
229(in native form, e.g. with backslashes under Windows), which you can
230pass to any function taking a file path as a string::
231
232   >>> p = PurePath('/etc')
233   >>> str(p)
234   '/etc'
235   >>> p = PureWindowsPath('c:/Program Files')
236   >>> str(p)
237   'c:\\Program Files'
238
239Similarly, calling :class:`bytes` on a path gives the raw filesystem path as a
240bytes object, as encoded by :func:`os.fsencode`::
241
242   >>> bytes(p)
243   b'/etc'
244
245.. note::
246   Calling :class:`bytes` is only recommended under Unix.  Under Windows,
247   the unicode form is the canonical representation of filesystem paths.
248
249
250Accessing individual parts
251^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
252
253To access the individual "parts" (components) of a path, use the following
254property:
255
256.. data:: PurePath.parts
257
258   A tuple giving access to the path's various components::
259
260      >>> p = PurePath('/usr/bin/python3')
261      >>> p.parts
262      ('/', 'usr', 'bin', 'python3')
263
264      >>> p = PureWindowsPath('c:/Program Files/PSF')
265      >>> p.parts
266      ('c:\\', 'Program Files', 'PSF')
267
268   (note how the drive and local root are regrouped in a single part)
269
270
271Methods and properties
272^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
273
274.. testsetup::
275
276   from pathlib import PurePosixPath, PureWindowsPath
277
278Pure paths provide the following methods and properties:
279
280.. data:: PurePath.drive
281
282   A string representing the drive letter or name, if any::
283
284      >>> PureWindowsPath('c:/Program Files/').drive
285      'c:'
286      >>> PureWindowsPath('/Program Files/').drive
287      ''
288      >>> PurePosixPath('/etc').drive
289      ''
290
291   UNC shares are also considered drives::
292
293      >>> PureWindowsPath('//host/share/foo.txt').drive
294      '\\\\host\\share'
295
296.. data:: PurePath.root
297
298   A string representing the (local or global) root, if any::
299
300      >>> PureWindowsPath('c:/Program Files/').root
301      '\\'
302      >>> PureWindowsPath('c:Program Files/').root
303      ''
304      >>> PurePosixPath('/etc').root
305      '/'
306
307   UNC shares always have a root::
308
309      >>> PureWindowsPath('//host/share').root
310      '\\'
311
312.. data:: PurePath.anchor
313
314   The concatenation of the drive and root::
315
316      >>> PureWindowsPath('c:/Program Files/').anchor
317      'c:\\'
318      >>> PureWindowsPath('c:Program Files/').anchor
319      'c:'
320      >>> PurePosixPath('/etc').anchor
321      '/'
322      >>> PureWindowsPath('//host/share').anchor
323      '\\\\host\\share\\'
324
325
326.. data:: PurePath.parents
327
328   An immutable sequence providing access to the logical ancestors of
329   the path::
330
331      >>> p = PureWindowsPath('c:/foo/bar/setup.py')
332      >>> p.parents[0]
333      PureWindowsPath('c:/foo/bar')
334      >>> p.parents[1]
335      PureWindowsPath('c:/foo')
336      >>> p.parents[2]
337      PureWindowsPath('c:/')
338
339
340.. data:: PurePath.parent
341
342   The logical parent of the path::
343
344      >>> p = PurePosixPath('/a/b/c/d')
345      >>> p.parent
346      PurePosixPath('/a/b/c')
347
348   You cannot go past an anchor, or empty path::
349
350      >>> p = PurePosixPath('/')
351      >>> p.parent
352      PurePosixPath('/')
353      >>> p = PurePosixPath('.')
354      >>> p.parent
355      PurePosixPath('.')
356
357   .. note::
358      This is a purely lexical operation, hence the following behaviour::
359
360         >>> p = PurePosixPath('foo/..')
361         >>> p.parent
362         PurePosixPath('foo')
363
364      If you want to walk an arbitrary filesystem path upwards, it is
365      recommended to first call :meth:`Path.resolve` so as to resolve
366      symlinks and eliminate `".."` components.
367
368
369.. data:: PurePath.name
370
371   A string representing the final path component, excluding the drive and
372   root, if any::
373
374      >>> PurePosixPath('my/library/setup.py').name
375      'setup.py'
376
377   UNC drive names are not considered::
378
379      >>> PureWindowsPath('//some/share/setup.py').name
380      'setup.py'
381      >>> PureWindowsPath('//some/share').name
382      ''
383
384
385.. data:: PurePath.suffix
386
387   The file extension of the final component, if any::
388
389      >>> PurePosixPath('my/library/setup.py').suffix
390      '.py'
391      >>> PurePosixPath('my/library.tar.gz').suffix
392      '.gz'
393      >>> PurePosixPath('my/library').suffix
394      ''
395
396
397.. data:: PurePath.suffixes
398
399   A list of the path's file extensions::
400
401      >>> PurePosixPath('my/library.tar.gar').suffixes
402      ['.tar', '.gar']
403      >>> PurePosixPath('my/library.tar.gz').suffixes
404      ['.tar', '.gz']
405      >>> PurePosixPath('my/library').suffixes
406      []
407
408
409.. data:: PurePath.stem
410
411   The final path component, without its suffix::
412
413      >>> PurePosixPath('my/library.tar.gz').stem
414      'library.tar'
415      >>> PurePosixPath('my/library.tar').stem
416      'library'
417      >>> PurePosixPath('my/library').stem
418      'library'
419
420
421.. method:: PurePath.as_posix()
422
423   Return a string representation of the path with forward slashes (``/``)::
424
425      >>> p = PureWindowsPath('c:\\windows')
426      >>> str(p)
427      'c:\\windows'
428      >>> p.as_posix()
429      'c:/windows'
430
431
432.. method:: PurePath.as_uri()
433
434   Represent the path as a ``file`` URI.  :exc:`ValueError` is raised if
435   the path isn't absolute.
436
437      >>> p = PurePosixPath('/etc/passwd')
438      >>> p.as_uri()
439      'file:///etc/passwd'
440      >>> p = PureWindowsPath('c:/Windows')
441      >>> p.as_uri()
442      'file:///c:/Windows'
443
444
445.. method:: PurePath.is_absolute()
446
447   Return whether the path is absolute or not.  A path is considered absolute
448   if it has both a root and (if the flavour allows) a drive::
449
450      >>> PurePosixPath('/a/b').is_absolute()
451      True
452      >>> PurePosixPath('a/b').is_absolute()
453      False
454
455      >>> PureWindowsPath('c:/a/b').is_absolute()
456      True
457      >>> PureWindowsPath('/a/b').is_absolute()
458      False
459      >>> PureWindowsPath('c:').is_absolute()
460      False
461      >>> PureWindowsPath('//some/share').is_absolute()
462      True
463
464
465.. method:: PurePath.is_reserved()
466
467   With :class:`PureWindowsPath`, return ``True`` if the path is considered
468   reserved under Windows, ``False`` otherwise.  With :class:`PurePosixPath`,
469   ``False`` is always returned.
470
471      >>> PureWindowsPath('nul').is_reserved()
472      True
473      >>> PurePosixPath('nul').is_reserved()
474      False
475
476   File system calls on reserved paths can fail mysteriously or have
477   unintended effects.
478
479
480.. method:: PurePath.joinpath(*other)
481
482   Calling this method is equivalent to combining the path with each of
483   the *other* arguments in turn::
484
485      >>> PurePosixPath('/etc').joinpath('passwd')
486      PurePosixPath('/etc/passwd')
487      >>> PurePosixPath('/etc').joinpath(PurePosixPath('passwd'))
488      PurePosixPath('/etc/passwd')
489      >>> PurePosixPath('/etc').joinpath('init.d', 'apache2')
490      PurePosixPath('/etc/init.d/apache2')
491      >>> PureWindowsPath('c:').joinpath('/Program Files')
492      PureWindowsPath('c:/Program Files')
493
494
495.. method:: PurePath.match(pattern)
496
497   Match this path against the provided glob-style pattern.  Return ``True``
498   if matching is successful, ``False`` otherwise.
499
500   If *pattern* is relative, the path can be either relative or absolute,
501   and matching is done from the right::
502
503      >>> PurePath('a/b.py').match('*.py')
504      True
505      >>> PurePath('/a/b/c.py').match('b/*.py')
506      True
507      >>> PurePath('/a/b/c.py').match('a/*.py')
508      False
509
510   If *pattern* is absolute, the path must be absolute, and the whole path
511   must match::
512
513      >>> PurePath('/a.py').match('/*.py')
514      True
515      >>> PurePath('a/b.py').match('/*.py')
516      False
517
518   As with other methods, case-sensitivity follows platform defaults::
519
520      >>> PurePosixPath('b.py').match('*.PY')
521      False
522      >>> PureWindowsPath('b.py').match('*.PY')
523      True
524
525
526.. method:: PurePath.relative_to(*other)
527
528   Compute a version of this path relative to the path represented by
529   *other*.  If it's impossible, ValueError is raised::
530
531      >>> p = PurePosixPath('/etc/passwd')
532      >>> p.relative_to('/')
533      PurePosixPath('etc/passwd')
534      >>> p.relative_to('/etc')
535      PurePosixPath('passwd')
536      >>> p.relative_to('/usr')
537      Traceback (most recent call last):
538        File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
539        File "pathlib.py", line 694, in relative_to
540          .format(str(self), str(formatted)))
541      ValueError: '/etc/passwd' does not start with '/usr'
542
543
544.. method:: PurePath.with_name(name)
545
546   Return a new path with the :attr:`name` changed.  If the original path
547   doesn't have a name, ValueError is raised::
548
549      >>> p = PureWindowsPath('c:/Downloads/pathlib.tar.gz')
550      >>> p.with_name('setup.py')
551      PureWindowsPath('c:/Downloads/setup.py')
552      >>> p = PureWindowsPath('c:/')
553      >>> p.with_name('setup.py')
554      Traceback (most recent call last):
555        File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
556        File "/home/antoine/cpython/default/Lib/pathlib.py", line 751, in with_name
557          raise ValueError("%r has an empty name" % (self,))
558      ValueError: PureWindowsPath('c:/') has an empty name
559
560
561.. method:: PurePath.with_suffix(suffix)
562
563   Return a new path with the :attr:`suffix` changed.  If the original path
564   doesn't have a suffix, the new *suffix* is appended instead.  If the
565   *suffix* is an empty string, the original suffix is removed::
566
567      >>> p = PureWindowsPath('c:/Downloads/pathlib.tar.gz')
568      >>> p.with_suffix('.bz2')
569      PureWindowsPath('c:/Downloads/pathlib.tar.bz2')
570      >>> p = PureWindowsPath('README')
571      >>> p.with_suffix('.txt')
572      PureWindowsPath('README.txt')
573      >>> p = PureWindowsPath('README.txt')
574      >>> p.with_suffix('')
575      PureWindowsPath('README')
576
577
578.. _concrete-paths:
579
580
581Concrete paths
582--------------
583
584Concrete paths are subclasses of the pure path classes.  In addition to
585operations provided by the latter, they also provide methods to do system
586calls on path objects.  There are three ways to instantiate concrete paths:
587
588.. class:: Path(*pathsegments)
589
590   A subclass of :class:`PurePath`, this class represents concrete paths of
591   the system's path flavour (instantiating it creates either a
592   :class:`PosixPath` or a :class:`WindowsPath`)::
593
594      >>> Path('setup.py')
595      PosixPath('setup.py')
596
597   *pathsegments* is specified similarly to :class:`PurePath`.
598
599.. class:: PosixPath(*pathsegments)
600
601   A subclass of :class:`Path` and :class:`PurePosixPath`, this class
602   represents concrete non-Windows filesystem paths::
603
604      >>> PosixPath('/etc')
605      PosixPath('/etc')
606
607   *pathsegments* is specified similarly to :class:`PurePath`.
608
609.. class:: WindowsPath(*pathsegments)
610
611   A subclass of :class:`Path` and :class:`PureWindowsPath`, this class
612   represents concrete Windows filesystem paths::
613
614      >>> WindowsPath('c:/Program Files/')
615      WindowsPath('c:/Program Files')
616
617   *pathsegments* is specified similarly to :class:`PurePath`.
618
619You can only instantiate the class flavour that corresponds to your system
620(allowing system calls on non-compatible path flavours could lead to
621bugs or failures in your application)::
622
623   >>> import os
624   >>> os.name
625   'posix'
626   >>> Path('setup.py')
627   PosixPath('setup.py')
628   >>> PosixPath('setup.py')
629   PosixPath('setup.py')
630   >>> WindowsPath('setup.py')
631   Traceback (most recent call last):
632     File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
633     File "pathlib.py", line 798, in __new__
634       % (cls.__name__,))
635   NotImplementedError: cannot instantiate 'WindowsPath' on your system
636
637
638Methods
639^^^^^^^
640
641Concrete paths provide the following methods in addition to pure paths
642methods.  Many of these methods can raise an :exc:`OSError` if a system
643call fails (for example because the path doesn't exist).
644
645.. versionchanged:: 3.8
646
647   :meth:`~Path.exists()`, :meth:`~Path.is_dir()`, :meth:`~Path.is_file()`,
648   :meth:`~Path.is_mount()`, :meth:`~Path.is_symlink()`,
649   :meth:`~Path.is_block_device()`, :meth:`~Path.is_char_device()`,
650   :meth:`~Path.is_fifo()`, :meth:`~Path.is_socket()` now return ``False``
651   instead of raising an exception for paths that contain characters
652   unrepresentable at the OS level.
653
654
655.. classmethod:: Path.cwd()
656
657   Return a new path object representing the current directory (as returned
658   by :func:`os.getcwd`)::
659
660      >>> Path.cwd()
661      PosixPath('/home/antoine/pathlib')
662
663
664.. classmethod:: Path.home()
665
666   Return a new path object representing the user's home directory (as
667   returned by :func:`os.path.expanduser` with ``~`` construct)::
668
669      >>> Path.home()
670      PosixPath('/home/antoine')
671
672   .. versionadded:: 3.5
673
674
675.. method:: Path.stat()
676
677   Return a :class:`os.stat_result` object containing information about this path, like :func:`os.stat`.
678   The result is looked up at each call to this method.
679
680   ::
681
682      >>> p = Path('setup.py')
683      >>> p.stat().st_size
684      956
685      >>> p.stat().st_mtime
686      1327883547.852554
687
688
689.. method:: Path.chmod(mode)
690
691   Change the file mode and permissions, like :func:`os.chmod`::
692
693      >>> p = Path('setup.py')
694      >>> p.stat().st_mode
695      33277
696      >>> p.chmod(0o444)
697      >>> p.stat().st_mode
698      33060
699
700
701.. method:: Path.exists()
702
703   Whether the path points to an existing file or directory::
704
705      >>> Path('.').exists()
706      True
707      >>> Path('setup.py').exists()
708      True
709      >>> Path('/etc').exists()
710      True
711      >>> Path('nonexistentfile').exists()
712      False
713
714   .. note::
715      If the path points to a symlink, :meth:`exists` returns whether the
716      symlink *points to* an existing file or directory.
717
718
719.. method:: Path.expanduser()
720
721   Return a new path with expanded ``~`` and ``~user`` constructs,
722   as returned by :meth:`os.path.expanduser`::
723
724      >>> p = PosixPath('~/films/Monty Python')
725      >>> p.expanduser()
726      PosixPath('/home/eric/films/Monty Python')
727
728   .. versionadded:: 3.5
729
730
731.. method:: Path.glob(pattern)
732
733   Glob the given relative *pattern* in the directory represented by this path,
734   yielding all matching files (of any kind)::
735
736      >>> sorted(Path('.').glob('*.py'))
737      [PosixPath('pathlib.py'), PosixPath('setup.py'), PosixPath('test_pathlib.py')]
738      >>> sorted(Path('.').glob('*/*.py'))
739      [PosixPath('docs/conf.py')]
740
741   The "``**``" pattern means "this directory and all subdirectories,
742   recursively".  In other words, it enables recursive globbing::
743
744      >>> sorted(Path('.').glob('**/*.py'))
745      [PosixPath('build/lib/pathlib.py'),
746       PosixPath('docs/conf.py'),
747       PosixPath('pathlib.py'),
748       PosixPath('setup.py'),
749       PosixPath('test_pathlib.py')]
750
751   .. note::
752      Using the "``**``" pattern in large directory trees may consume
753      an inordinate amount of time.
754
755
756.. method:: Path.group()
757
758   Return the name of the group owning the file.  :exc:`KeyError` is raised
759   if the file's gid isn't found in the system database.
760
761
762.. method:: Path.is_dir()
763
764   Return ``True`` if the path points to a directory (or a symbolic link
765   pointing to a directory), ``False`` if it points to another kind of file.
766
767   ``False`` is also returned if the path doesn't exist or is a broken symlink;
768   other errors (such as permission errors) are propagated.
769
770
771.. method:: Path.is_file()
772
773   Return ``True`` if the path points to a regular file (or a symbolic link
774   pointing to a regular file), ``False`` if it points to another kind of file.
775
776   ``False`` is also returned if the path doesn't exist or is a broken symlink;
777   other errors (such as permission errors) are propagated.
778
779
780.. method:: Path.is_mount()
781
782   Return ``True`` if the path is a :dfn:`mount point`: a point in a
783   file system where a different file system has been mounted.  On POSIX, the
784   function checks whether *path*'s parent, :file:`path/..`, is on a different
785   device than *path*, or whether :file:`path/..` and *path* point to the same
786   i-node on the same device --- this should detect mount points for all Unix
787   and POSIX variants.  Not implemented on Windows.
788
789   .. versionadded:: 3.7
790
791
792.. method:: Path.is_symlink()
793
794   Return ``True`` if the path points to a symbolic link, ``False`` otherwise.
795
796   ``False`` is also returned if the path doesn't exist; other errors (such
797   as permission errors) are propagated.
798
799
800.. method:: Path.is_socket()
801
802   Return ``True`` if the path points to a Unix socket (or a symbolic link
803   pointing to a Unix socket), ``False`` if it points to another kind of file.
804
805   ``False`` is also returned if the path doesn't exist or is a broken symlink;
806   other errors (such as permission errors) are propagated.
807
808
809.. method:: Path.is_fifo()
810
811   Return ``True`` if the path points to a FIFO (or a symbolic link
812   pointing to a FIFO), ``False`` if it points to another kind of file.
813
814   ``False`` is also returned if the path doesn't exist or is a broken symlink;
815   other errors (such as permission errors) are propagated.
816
817
818.. method:: Path.is_block_device()
819
820   Return ``True`` if the path points to a block device (or a symbolic link
821   pointing to a block device), ``False`` if it points to another kind of file.
822
823   ``False`` is also returned if the path doesn't exist or is a broken symlink;
824   other errors (such as permission errors) are propagated.
825
826
827.. method:: Path.is_char_device()
828
829   Return ``True`` if the path points to a character device (or a symbolic link
830   pointing to a character device), ``False`` if it points to another kind of file.
831
832   ``False`` is also returned if the path doesn't exist or is a broken symlink;
833   other errors (such as permission errors) are propagated.
834
835
836.. method:: Path.iterdir()
837
838   When the path points to a directory, yield path objects of the directory
839   contents::
840
841      >>> p = Path('docs')
842      >>> for child in p.iterdir(): child
843      ...
844      PosixPath('docs/conf.py')
845      PosixPath('docs/_templates')
846      PosixPath('docs/make.bat')
847      PosixPath('docs/index.rst')
848      PosixPath('docs/_build')
849      PosixPath('docs/_static')
850      PosixPath('docs/Makefile')
851
852.. method:: Path.lchmod(mode)
853
854   Like :meth:`Path.chmod` but, if the path points to a symbolic link, the
855   symbolic link's mode is changed rather than its target's.
856
857
858.. method:: Path.lstat()
859
860   Like :meth:`Path.stat` but, if the path points to a symbolic link, return
861   the symbolic link's information rather than its target's.
862
863
864.. method:: Path.mkdir(mode=0o777, parents=False, exist_ok=False)
865
866   Create a new directory at this given path.  If *mode* is given, it is
867   combined with the process' ``umask`` value to determine the file mode
868   and access flags.  If the path already exists, :exc:`FileExistsError`
869   is raised.
870
871   If *parents* is true, any missing parents of this path are created
872   as needed; they are created with the default permissions without taking
873   *mode* into account (mimicking the POSIX ``mkdir -p`` command).
874
875   If *parents* is false (the default), a missing parent raises
876   :exc:`FileNotFoundError`.
877
878   If *exist_ok* is false (the default), :exc:`FileExistsError` is
879   raised if the target directory already exists.
880
881   If *exist_ok* is true, :exc:`FileExistsError` exceptions will be
882   ignored (same behavior as the POSIX ``mkdir -p`` command), but only if the
883   last path component is not an existing non-directory file.
884
885   .. versionchanged:: 3.5
886      The *exist_ok* parameter was added.
887
888
889.. method:: Path.open(mode='r', buffering=-1, encoding=None, errors=None, newline=None)
890
891   Open the file pointed to by the path, like the built-in :func:`open`
892   function does::
893
894      >>> p = Path('setup.py')
895      >>> with p.open() as f:
896      ...     f.readline()
897      ...
898      '#!/usr/bin/env python3\n'
899
900
901.. method:: Path.owner()
902
903   Return the name of the user owning the file.  :exc:`KeyError` is raised
904   if the file's uid isn't found in the system database.
905
906
907.. method:: Path.read_bytes()
908
909   Return the binary contents of the pointed-to file as a bytes object::
910
911      >>> p = Path('my_binary_file')
912      >>> p.write_bytes(b'Binary file contents')
913      20
914      >>> p.read_bytes()
915      b'Binary file contents'
916
917   .. versionadded:: 3.5
918
919
920.. method:: Path.read_text(encoding=None, errors=None)
921
922   Return the decoded contents of the pointed-to file as a string::
923
924      >>> p = Path('my_text_file')
925      >>> p.write_text('Text file contents')
926      18
927      >>> p.read_text()
928      'Text file contents'
929
930   The file is opened and then closed. The optional parameters have the same
931   meaning as in :func:`open`.
932
933   .. versionadded:: 3.5
934
935
936.. method:: Path.rename(target)
937
938   Rename this file or directory to the given *target*, and return a new Path
939   instance pointing to *target*.  On Unix, if *target* exists and is a file,
940   it will be replaced silently if the user has permission.  *target* can be
941   either a string or another path object::
942
943      >>> p = Path('foo')
944      >>> p.open('w').write('some text')
945      9
946      >>> target = Path('bar')
947      >>> p.rename(target)
948      PosixPath('bar')
949      >>> target.open().read()
950      'some text'
951
952   .. versionchanged:: 3.8
953      Added return value, return the new Path instance.
954
955
956.. method:: Path.replace(target)
957
958   Rename this file or directory to the given *target*, and return a new Path
959   instance pointing to *target*.  If *target* points to an existing file or
960   directory, it will be unconditionally replaced.
961
962   .. versionchanged:: 3.8
963      Added return value, return the new Path instance.
964
965
966.. method:: Path.resolve(strict=False)
967
968   Make the path absolute, resolving any symlinks.  A new path object is
969   returned::
970
971      >>> p = Path()
972      >>> p
973      PosixPath('.')
974      >>> p.resolve()
975      PosixPath('/home/antoine/pathlib')
976
977   "``..``" components are also eliminated (this is the only method to do so)::
978
979      >>> p = Path('docs/../setup.py')
980      >>> p.resolve()
981      PosixPath('/home/antoine/pathlib/setup.py')
982
983   If the path doesn't exist and *strict* is ``True``, :exc:`FileNotFoundError`
984   is raised.  If *strict* is ``False``, the path is resolved as far as possible
985   and any remainder is appended without checking whether it exists.  If an
986   infinite loop is encountered along the resolution path, :exc:`RuntimeError`
987   is raised.
988
989   .. versionadded:: 3.6
990      The *strict* argument (pre-3.6 behavior is strict).
991
992.. method:: Path.rglob(pattern)
993
994   This is like calling :func:`Path.glob` with "``**/``" added in front of the
995   given relative *pattern*::
996
997      >>> sorted(Path().rglob("*.py"))
998      [PosixPath('build/lib/pathlib.py'),
999       PosixPath('docs/conf.py'),
1000       PosixPath('pathlib.py'),
1001       PosixPath('setup.py'),
1002       PosixPath('test_pathlib.py')]
1003
1004
1005.. method:: Path.rmdir()
1006
1007   Remove this directory.  The directory must be empty.
1008
1009
1010.. method:: Path.samefile(other_path)
1011
1012   Return whether this path points to the same file as *other_path*, which
1013   can be either a Path object, or a string.  The semantics are similar
1014   to :func:`os.path.samefile` and :func:`os.path.samestat`.
1015
1016   An :exc:`OSError` can be raised if either file cannot be accessed for some
1017   reason.
1018
1019   ::
1020
1021      >>> p = Path('spam')
1022      >>> q = Path('eggs')
1023      >>> p.samefile(q)
1024      False
1025      >>> p.samefile('spam')
1026      True
1027
1028   .. versionadded:: 3.5
1029
1030
1031.. method:: Path.symlink_to(target, target_is_directory=False)
1032
1033   Make this path a symbolic link to *target*.  Under Windows,
1034   *target_is_directory* must be true (default ``False``) if the link's target
1035   is a directory.  Under POSIX, *target_is_directory*'s value is ignored.
1036
1037   ::
1038
1039      >>> p = Path('mylink')
1040      >>> p.symlink_to('setup.py')
1041      >>> p.resolve()
1042      PosixPath('/home/antoine/pathlib/setup.py')
1043      >>> p.stat().st_size
1044      956
1045      >>> p.lstat().st_size
1046      8
1047
1048   .. note::
1049      The order of arguments (link, target) is the reverse
1050      of :func:`os.symlink`'s.
1051
1052
1053.. method:: Path.touch(mode=0o666, exist_ok=True)
1054
1055   Create a file at this given path.  If *mode* is given, it is combined
1056   with the process' ``umask`` value to determine the file mode and access
1057   flags.  If the file already exists, the function succeeds if *exist_ok*
1058   is true (and its modification time is updated to the current time),
1059   otherwise :exc:`FileExistsError` is raised.
1060
1061
1062.. method:: Path.unlink(missing_ok=False)
1063
1064   Remove this file or symbolic link.  If the path points to a directory,
1065   use :func:`Path.rmdir` instead.
1066
1067   If *missing_ok* is false (the default), :exc:`FileNotFoundError` is
1068   raised if the path does not exist.
1069
1070   If *missing_ok* is true, :exc:`FileNotFoundError` exceptions will be
1071   ignored (same behavior as the POSIX ``rm -f`` command).
1072
1073   .. versionchanged:: 3.8
1074      The *missing_ok* parameter was added.
1075
1076
1077.. method:: Path.link_to(target)
1078
1079   Create a hard link pointing to a path named *target*.
1080
1081   .. versionchanged:: 3.8
1082
1083
1084.. method:: Path.write_bytes(data)
1085
1086   Open the file pointed to in bytes mode, write *data* to it, and close the
1087   file::
1088
1089      >>> p = Path('my_binary_file')
1090      >>> p.write_bytes(b'Binary file contents')
1091      20
1092      >>> p.read_bytes()
1093      b'Binary file contents'
1094
1095   An existing file of the same name is overwritten.
1096
1097   .. versionadded:: 3.5
1098
1099
1100.. method:: Path.write_text(data, encoding=None, errors=None)
1101
1102   Open the file pointed to in text mode, write *data* to it, and close the
1103   file::
1104
1105      >>> p = Path('my_text_file')
1106      >>> p.write_text('Text file contents')
1107      18
1108      >>> p.read_text()
1109      'Text file contents'
1110
1111   An existing file of the same name is overwritten. The optional parameters
1112   have the same meaning as in :func:`open`.
1113
1114   .. versionadded:: 3.5
1115
1116Correspondence to tools in the :mod:`os` module
1117-----------------------------------------------
1118
1119Below is a table mapping various :mod:`os` functions to their corresponding
1120:class:`PurePath`/:class:`Path` equivalent.
1121
1122.. note::
1123
1124   Although :func:`os.path.relpath` and :meth:`PurePath.relative_to` have some
1125   overlapping use-cases, their semantics differ enough to warrant not
1126   considering them equivalent.
1127
1128====================================   ==============================
1129os and os.path                         pathlib
1130====================================   ==============================
1131:func:`os.path.abspath`                :meth:`Path.resolve`
1132:func:`os.chmod`                       :meth:`Path.chmod`
1133:func:`os.mkdir`                       :meth:`Path.mkdir`
1134:func:`os.rename`                      :meth:`Path.rename`
1135:func:`os.replace`                     :meth:`Path.replace`
1136:func:`os.rmdir`                       :meth:`Path.rmdir`
1137:func:`os.remove`, :func:`os.unlink`   :meth:`Path.unlink`
1138:func:`os.getcwd`                      :func:`Path.cwd`
1139:func:`os.path.exists`                 :meth:`Path.exists`
1140:func:`os.path.expanduser`             :meth:`Path.expanduser` and
1141                                       :meth:`Path.home`
1142:func:`os.path.isdir`                  :meth:`Path.is_dir`
1143:func:`os.path.isfile`                 :meth:`Path.is_file`
1144:func:`os.path.islink`                 :meth:`Path.is_symlink`
1145:func:`os.stat`                        :meth:`Path.stat`,
1146                                       :meth:`Path.owner`,
1147                                       :meth:`Path.group`
1148:func:`os.path.isabs`                  :meth:`PurePath.is_absolute`
1149:func:`os.path.join`                   :func:`PurePath.joinpath`
1150:func:`os.path.basename`               :data:`PurePath.name`
1151:func:`os.path.dirname`                :data:`PurePath.parent`
1152:func:`os.path.samefile`               :meth:`Path.samefile`
1153:func:`os.path.splitext`               :data:`PurePath.suffix`
1154====================================   ==============================
1155