File Metadata Extractor
Level: Real-World
Project Level: Real-World
This project is designed for learners who know Python fundamentals and are learning to build real-world programs.
Project Description
his Python command-line tool extracts metadata from files in a specified directory and displays it. Metadata includes the file size, creation date, modification date, and file type. Users can see a list of all files in a directory, including files in subdirectories, along with their metadata. The results can also be saved into a CSV file for later use or analysis.
How the program works
The program lets the user enter a directory path in the terminal where some files are located (e.g., /Users/as/Downloads/myfolder for Mac/Linux or C:\Users\as\Downloads\myfolder for Windows):
The program displays the list of the filepaths contained in the given directory and their metadata (size, creation date, and type):
The program also lets the user choose whether to save the metadata results in a CSV file or not:
Here is how the metadata look in the CSV file:
Tip: You can extract the file creation time and size using the os library:
creation_time = os.path.getctime(file_path)
modification_time = os.path.getmtime(file_path)Learning Benefits
Learn how to work with file metadata using Python's
osanddatetimemodules.Understand how to display and organize file information in a structured format.
Practice saving information into CSV files using Python’s
csvmodule.
Prerequisites
Required Libraries: os, csv, datetime
You don’t need to install any libraries since all the libraries are standard Python libraries.
Required Files: No files are required.
IDE: Use any IDE.
Danger Zone
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Happy Coding!
Daily Python Projects Team
HI,
is my version of code below correct?
import csv
import os
import datetime
dir_path = input("Enter the directory path to scan: ")
metadata_list = []
for filename in os.listdir(dir_path):
file_path = os.path.join(dir_path, filename)
if os.path.isfile(file_path):
size = os.path.getsize(file_path)
created_timestamp = os.path.getctime(file_path)
modified_timestamp = os.path.getmtime(file_path)
created_datetime = datetime.datetime.fromtimestamp(created_timestamp)
modified_datetime = datetime.datetime.fromtimestamp(modified_timestamp)
file_type = os.path.splitext(file_path)[1]
print(f"Path: {file_path}, Size: {size}, Created: {created_datetime}, Modified: {modified_datetime}, "
f"Type: {file_type}")
metadata_list.append([file_path, size, created_datetime, modified_datetime, file_type])
save_to_csv = input("Do you want to save the metadata to a CSV file? (Y/N): ")
if save_to_csv.lower() == "y":
csv_filename = "file_metadata_list.csv"
with open(csv_filename, 'w', newline='') as file:
writer = csv.writer(file)
writer.writerow(["Path", "Size (bytes)", "Created", "Modified", "Type"])
writer.writerows(metadata_list)
print(f"File metadata saved to {csv_filename}")
elif save_to_csv.lower() != 'n':
print("Invalid input, File metadata not saved.")