Error when verifying folder creation (Python)

Question

I am stuck in an "error" during my folder creation. First of all, this is the code I am using:

import os
import errno
import subprocess

try:
    folder = os.makedirs(os.path.expanduser('~\\Desktop\\FOLDER'))
except OSError as e:
    if e.errno != errno.EEXIST:
        raise
print(os.path.isdir('~\\Desktop\\FOLDER'), '- FOLDER CREATED')

So, the code do the following:

using os.makedirs() it creates a new folder on Desktop. I want to create a folder which use cross-platform path, so I am using ~ symbol
using print() I want to verify that the folder really exist, that the directory is real. The output of this is True or False.

The problem is: if I am using the ~ symbol in print(), the output is False. If I put the complete path to the folder (ex: os.path.isdir('C:\\Users\\Bob\\Desktop\\FOLDER'), the output is True.

Why does this happen ? The folder is really created even if I have a False output ?

It'd be better if you just created a variable to store the expanded path and use that where necessary: path = os.path.expanduser('~\\Desktop\\Folder'). Then use path as the argument to os.makedirs() and os.path.isdir(). This help reduce errors such as this one. — John Szakmeister
– John Szakmeister, Commented Oct 2, 2017 at 9:16
I tried doing that but it gives me an error...Will try again just now. Thanks BTW. Also, the problem is that I have some nested folders, more complex than just one with (concatenad) variables in path. — lucians
– lucians, Commented Oct 2, 2017 at 9:17

Daniel Trugman · Accepted Answer · 2017-10-02 09:17:46Z

2

You are just missing the expanduser method when calling isdir:

print(os.path.isdir(os.path.expanduser('~\\Desktop\\FOLDER')), '- FOLDER CREATED')

You don't really need the check at the end as well. Since if there is no exception, you can be sure that the creation is successful.

Here is a cleaner implementation:

try:
    dirpath = os.path.expanduser('~\\Desktop\\FOLDER')
    os.makedirs(dirpath)
    print dirpath, "creation successful"
except OSError as e:
    print dirpath, "creation failed"
    if e.errno != errno.EEXIST:
        raise

edited Oct 2, 2017 at 9:17

answered Oct 2, 2017 at 9:13

Daniel Trugman

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