Python can't find .txt-file

Question

My code doesn't seem to be able to find a text file I created. The .txt file is in the same folder as the .py-file named trivia.txt. It's from the Python programming for the absolute beginner. I get the following error:

>>> 
Unable to open the file trivia.txt Ending program
 [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'trivia.txt'
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\hugok\Desktop\Python programs\Trivia_game.py", line 64, in <module>
    main()
  File "C:\Users\hugok\Desktop\Python programs\Trivia_game.py", line 39, in main
    trivia_file = open_file("trivia.txt", "r")
  File "C:\Users\hugok\Desktop\Python programs\Trivia_game.py", line 8, in open_file
    sys.exit()
SystemExit
>>> 

This is the code I am trying to run:

import sys
def open_file(file_name, mode):
    try:
        the_file=open(file_name, mode)
    except IOError as e:
        print("Unable to open the file", file_name, "Ending program\n", e)
        input=("\nPress the enter key to exit")
        sys.exit()
    else:
        return the_file

def next_line(the_file):
    line=the_file.readline()
    line=line.replace("/", "\n")
    return line

def next_block(the_file):
    cathegory=next_line(the_file)

    question=next_line(the_file)

    answers=[]
    for i in range(4):
        answers.append(next_line(the_file))

    correct=next_line(the_file)
    if correct:
        correct=correct[0]

    explanation=next_line(the_file)

    return category, question, answers, correct, explanation

def welcome(title):
    print("\t\tWelcome to Trivia Challenge!\n")
    print("\t\t", title, "\n")

def main():
    trivia_file = open_file("trivia.txt", "r")
    title=next_line(trivia_file)
    welcome(title)
    score=0

    category, question, answers, correct, explanation=next_block(trivia_file)
    while category:
        print(category)
        print(question)
        for i in range(4):
            print("\t", i+1, answers[i])

        answer=input("What's your answer?")
        if answer==correct:
            print("\nRight!", end=" ")
            score+=1
        else:
            print("\nWrong!", end=" ")
        print(explanation)
        category, question, answers, correct, explanation=next_block(trivia_file)

    trivia_file.close()
    print("That was the last question")
    print("Your final score is", score)

main()

input("\n\nPress the enter key to exit.")

Answer 1

Your .txt file being in the same folder as the .py file doesn't really mean anything. You need to make sure that the result of:

import os
os.getcwd()

is the directory where you have your text file. The traceback tells us that it is not. So you have two options here:

1. Change your working directory at the top of the script to where your text file is:

   os.chdir("C:/Users/hugok/Desktop/Python programs")
   

2. When you call open(), specify the full path to your text file:

   def main():
       open_file("C:/Users/hugok/Desktop/Python programs/trivia.txt", "r")
       ...
   

Either solution should work, please update us regarding the result once you apply them.

Answer 2

A variation on the theme, where the user expects data files to be in the same directory as the program main source code:

# help_user_path.py
import os

"""
    ONLY as a suggestion, let's assume the user,
    unless specifying an absolute file path, expects
    the file to be in the directory of, or relative to the
    program's directory.     
"""
file_name = "test_file.txt"
inp = input(f"Enter File Name[{file_name}]:")
if inp != "":
    file_name = inp     # Use input
file_path = file_name   # Changed, if appropriate
if not os.path.isabs(file_path):
    pgm_dir = os.path.dirname(__file__)
    file_path = os.path.join(pgm_dir,file_name)
    
if not os.path.exists(file_path):
    print(f"Can't find file: {file_name}"
          f"\n at {os.path.abspath(file_path)}")
else:
    print(f"File: {file_name}"
          f"\n at {os.path.abspath(file_path)}"
          f"\n exists")