Create new file with other name if file name already exist in python

Question

For the moment my script can create a file and the content. However, I would like to have a way in my code to directly noticed if the file already exists, and then if it exists, it creates a new file which will not be Y but Y_2 or Y with the current date. So I can have a history of my file created.

customername = "X"
workspacename = "Y"

structureDict = {
    "attribute": ["attributes/screens"],
    
    "content": ["containers", 
                "dataProcessing", 
                "fields", 
                "properties", 
                "sources", 
                "structures", 
                "usages"],
    
    "types": ["containers/types", 
              "dataProcessing/types", 
              "fields/types", 
              "properties/types", 
              "sources/types", 
              "structures/types", 
              "usages/types"]
}
 
for category in structureDict:
    for endpoint in structureDict[category]:
        print (category, endpoint)

def writeContentToFile(mode, customername, workspacename, category, endpoint, jsonContent):
    path = os.path.join(os.getcwd(), customername, workspacename, category)
    Path(path).mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
    
    with open(path + "/" + endpoint + '.json', mode, encoding='utf-8') as f:
        json.dump(jsonContent, f, ensure_ascii=False, indent=4)


  
        f.close()


for category in structureDict:
    for endpoint in structureDict[category]:
        
        endpointFilename = endpoint
        
        if category in ["attribute", "types"]:
            endpointFilename = endpoint.replace("/", "_")


        url = url_X + endpoint

        params = {"versionId":Workspace_id,
                "includeAccessData":"true", 
                  "includeAttributes":"true",
                  "includeLinks":"true"
                 }

        jsonResponse = requests.get(url, params=params, headers={"Authorization":accessToken}).json()

        writeContentToFile('a', customername, workspacename, category, endpointFilename, jsonResponse)
        
        try:
            jsonResponsePages = jsonResponse['pages']

            if int(jsonResponsePages) != 1:
                for i in range(2, jsonResponsePages+1, 1):

                    params["page"] = str(i)
                    jsonResponse = requests.get(url=url, params = params, headers={"Authorization":accessToken}).json()['results']

                    writeContentToFile('a', customername, workspacename, category, endpointFilename, jsonResponse)
                    
        except:
            print(endpoint)
            next

When using `with open`, you don't need to close the file explicitly. — Devang Sanghani, Feb 23 '22 at 08:42
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/82831/how-do-i-check-whether-a-file-exists-without-exceptions — Devang Sanghani, Feb 23 '22 at 08:44

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 23 '22 at 08:54

I don't think I understood your question well. but from what I got I can help you this much:
for checking if exists you can use os.path.exists(path_to_file) and putting it in a while loop would give you ability to check for existence of your file name and assign a new one (Y_2) if needed

def writeContentToFile(mode, customername, workspacename, category, endpoint, jsonContent):
    path = os.path.join(os.getcwd(), customername, workspacename, category)
    Path(path).mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
    
    c = 1
    while os.path.exists(path + "/" + (endpoint if c == 1 else endpoint + f'_{c}') + '.json'): c += 1
    with open(path + "/" + (endpoint if c == 1 else endpoint + f'_{c}') + '.json', mode, encoding='utf-8') as f:
        json.dump(jsonContent, f, ensure_ascii=False, indent=4)

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 23 '22 at 08:59

You just need to make a small change in your writeContentToFile function

import os
from datetime import datetime


def writeContentToFile(mode, customername, workspacename, category, endpoint, jsonContent):
    path = os.path.join(os.getcwd(), customername, workspacename, category)
    date = datetime. now(). strftime("%Y_%m_%d") #getting the current date
    

    new_endpoint=endpoint[:] #Creating a new endpoint value
    index=2 #setting the counter to 2

    while os.path.exists(os.path.join(path, new_endpoint)): #keep on checking Y_DATE_2 , Y_DATE_3 until filename is unique
        new_endpoint=endpoint+'_'+date+'_'+index
        index+=1

    
    Path(path).mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
    
    with open(path + "/" + new_endpoint + '.json', mode, encoding='utf-8') as f:
        json.dump(jsonContent, f, ensure_ascii=False, indent=4)


  
        f.close()

Explanation: What we are doing is that first we are getting the current date as you need, then we are creating a new variable new_endpoint and then we are checking if the current filename exists and until it exists we will keep on adding _1, _2 ,_3... to the filename until we have a a filename which is unique.

Create new file with other name if file name already exist in python

2 Answers2