Renaming file extension using pathlib (python 3)

Question

I am using windows 10 and winpython. I have a file with a .dwt extension (it is a text file). I want to change the extension of this file to .txt.

My code does not throw any errors, but it does not change the extension.

from pathlib import Path  filename = Path("E:\\seaborn_plot\\x.dwt")  print(filename)  filename_replace_ext = filename.with_suffix('.txt')  print(filename_replace_ext) 

Expected results are printed out (as shown below) in winpython's ipython window output:

E:\seaborn_plot\x.dwt

E:\seaborn_plot\x.txt

But when I look for a file with a renamed extension, the extension has not been changed, only the original file exists. I suspect windows file permissions.

Answer 1

You have to actually rename the file not just print out the new name.

1. Use Path.rename()

    from pathlib import Path  my_file = Path("E:\\seaborn_plot\\x.dwt")  my_file.rename(my_file.with_suffix('.txt')) 

Note: To replace the target if it exists use Path.replace()

2. Use os.rename()

    import os  my_file = 'E:\\seaborn_plot\\x.dwt'  new_ext = '.txt'  # Gets my_file minus the extension  name_without_ext = os.path.splitext(my_file)[0]  os.rename(my_file, name_without_ext + new_ext) 

Ref:

1. os.path.splitext(path)
2. PurePath.with_suffix(suffix)

Answer 2

From the docs:

Path.rename(target)

Rename this file or directory to the given target. On Unix, if target exists and is a file, it will be replaced silently if the user has permission. target can be either a string or another path object.

^{pathlib — Object-oriented filesystem paths on docs.python.org}

You could use it like this:

from pathlib import Path   filename = Path("E:\\seaborn_plot\\x.dwt") filename_replace_ext = filename.with_suffix(".txt") filename.rename(filename_replace_ext)