Python add custom property/metadata to file

Question

In Python, is it possible to add custom property/metadata to a file? For example, I need to add "FileInfo" as a new property of the file. I need a method that works on various file formats

Answer 1

Heads up: this answer only works on Linux

You can make use of extended file attributes which is a filesystem feature that do just what you want: store custom metadata along files.

In Python, this is implemented by the os module through setxattr() and getxattr() functions.

import os

os.setxattr('foo.txt', 'user.bar', b'baz')
os.getxattr('foo.txt', 'user.bar')  # => b'baz'

Note that you must prepend the xattr value with "user." otherwise this may raise an OSError.