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<div class="section" id="module-os.path">
<h1>11.1. <tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">os.path</span></tt> — Common pathname manipulations<a class="headerlink" href="#module-os.path" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h1>
<p id="index-473">This module implements some useful functions on pathnames. To read or
write files see <a title="open" class="reference external" href="functions.html#open"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">open()</span></tt></a>, and for accessing the filesystem see the
<a title="Miscellaneous operating system interfaces." class="reference external" href="os.html#module-os"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">os</span></tt></a> module.</p>
<div class="admonition note">
<p class="first admonition-title">Note</p>
<p class="last">On Windows, many of these functions do not properly support UNC pathnames.
<a title="os.path.splitunc" class="reference internal" href="#os.path.splitunc"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">splitunc()</span></tt></a> and <a title="os.path.ismount" class="reference internal" href="#os.path.ismount"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">ismount()</span></tt></a> do handle them correctly.</p>
</div>
<div class="admonition note">
<p class="first admonition-title">Note</p>
<p>Since different operating systems have different path name conventions, there
are several versions of this module in the standard library. The
<tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">os.path</span></tt> module is always the path module suitable for the operating
system Python is running on, and therefore usable for local paths. However,
you can also import and use the individual modules if you want to manipulate
a path that is <em>always</em> in one of the different formats. They all have the
same interface:</p>
<ul class="last simple">
<li><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">posixpath</span></tt> for UNIX-style paths</li>
<li><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">ntpath</span></tt> for Windows paths</li>
<li><a title="Mac OS 9 path manipulation functions." class="reference external" href="macpath.html#module-macpath"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">macpath</span></tt></a> for old-style MacOS paths</li>
<li><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">os2emxpath</span></tt> for OS/2 EMX paths</li>
</ul>
</div>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="os.path.abspath">
<tt class="descclassname">os.path.</tt><tt class="descname">abspath</tt><big>(</big><em>path</em><big>)</big><a class="headerlink" href="#os.path.abspath" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Return a normalized absolutized version of the pathname <em>path</em>. On most
platforms, this is equivalent to <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">normpath(join(os.getcwd(),</span> <span class="pre">path))</span></tt>.</p>
<p class="versionadded">
<span class="versionmodified">New in version 1.5.2.</span></p>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="os.path.basename">
<tt class="descclassname">os.path.</tt><tt class="descname">basename</tt><big>(</big><em>path</em><big>)</big><a class="headerlink" href="#os.path.basename" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd>Return the base name of pathname <em>path</em>. This is the second half of the pair
returned by <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">split(path)</span></tt>. Note that the result of this function is different
from the Unix <strong>basename</strong> program; where <strong>basename</strong> for
<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">'/foo/bar/'</span></tt> returns <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">'bar'</span></tt>, the <a title="os.path.basename" class="reference internal" href="#os.path.basename"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">basename()</span></tt></a> function returns an
empty string (<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">''</span></tt>).</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="os.path.commonprefix">
<tt class="descclassname">os.path.</tt><tt class="descname">commonprefix</tt><big>(</big><em>list</em><big>)</big><a class="headerlink" href="#os.path.commonprefix" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd>Return the longest path prefix (taken character-by-character) that is a prefix
of all paths in <em>list</em>. If <em>list</em> is empty, return the empty string (<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">''</span></tt>).
Note that this may return invalid paths because it works a character at a time.</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="os.path.dirname">
<tt class="descclassname">os.path.</tt><tt class="descname">dirname</tt><big>(</big><em>path</em><big>)</big><a class="headerlink" href="#os.path.dirname" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd>Return the directory name of pathname <em>path</em>. This is the first half of the
pair returned by <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">split(path)</span></tt>.</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="os.path.exists">
<tt class="descclassname">os.path.</tt><tt class="descname">exists</tt><big>(</big><em>path</em><big>)</big><a class="headerlink" href="#os.path.exists" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd>Return <tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">True</span></tt> if <em>path</em> refers to an existing path. Returns <tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">False</span></tt> for
broken symbolic links. On some platforms, this function may return <tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">False</span></tt> if
permission is not granted to execute <a title="os.stat" class="reference external" href="os.html#os.stat"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">os.stat()</span></tt></a> on the requested file, even
if the <em>path</em> physically exists.</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="os.path.lexists">
<tt class="descclassname">os.path.</tt><tt class="descname">lexists</tt><big>(</big><em>path</em><big>)</big><a class="headerlink" href="#os.path.lexists" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Return <tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">True</span></tt> if <em>path</em> refers to an existing path. Returns <tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">True</span></tt> for
broken symbolic links. Equivalent to <a title="os.path.exists" class="reference internal" href="#os.path.exists"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">exists()</span></tt></a> on platforms lacking
<a title="os.lstat" class="reference external" href="os.html#os.lstat"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">os.lstat()</span></tt></a>.</p>
<p class="versionadded">
<span class="versionmodified">New in version 2.4.</span></p>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="os.path.expanduser">
<tt class="descclassname">os.path.</tt><tt class="descname">expanduser</tt><big>(</big><em>path</em><big>)</big><a class="headerlink" href="#os.path.expanduser" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>On Unix and Windows, return the argument with an initial component of <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">~</span></tt> or
<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">~user</span></tt> replaced by that <em>user</em>‘s home directory.</p>
<p id="index-474">On Unix, an initial <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">~</span></tt> is replaced by the environment variable <span class="target" id="index-475"></span><strong class="xref">HOME</strong>
if it is set; otherwise the current user’s home directory is looked up in the
password directory through the built-in module <a title="(Unix) The password database (getpwnam() and friends)." class="reference external" href="pwd.html#module-pwd"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">pwd</span></tt></a>. An initial <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">~user</span></tt>
is looked up directly in the password directory.</p>
<p>On Windows, <span class="target" id="index-476"></span><strong class="xref">HOME</strong> and <span class="target" id="index-477"></span><strong class="xref">USERPROFILE</strong> will be used if set,
otherwise a combination of <span class="target" id="index-478"></span><strong class="xref">HOMEPATH</strong> and <span class="target" id="index-479"></span><strong class="xref">HOMEDRIVE</strong> will be
used. An initial <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">~user</span></tt> is handled by stripping the last directory component
from the created user path derived above.</p>
<p>If the expansion fails or if the path does not begin with a tilde, the path is
returned unchanged.</p>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="os.path.expandvars">
<tt class="descclassname">os.path.</tt><tt class="descname">expandvars</tt><big>(</big><em>path</em><big>)</big><a class="headerlink" href="#os.path.expandvars" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Return the argument with environment variables expanded. Substrings of the form
<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">$name</span></tt> or <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">${name}</span></tt> are replaced by the value of environment variable
<em>name</em>. Malformed variable names and references to non-existing variables are
left unchanged.</p>
<p>On Windows, <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">%name%</span></tt> expansions are supported in addition to <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">$name</span></tt> and
<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">${name}</span></tt>.</p>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="os.path.getatime">
<tt class="descclassname">os.path.</tt><tt class="descname">getatime</tt><big>(</big><em>path</em><big>)</big><a class="headerlink" href="#os.path.getatime" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Return the time of last access of <em>path</em>. The return value is a number giving
the number of seconds since the epoch (see the <a title="Time access and conversions." class="reference external" href="time.html#module-time"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">time</span></tt></a> module). Raise
<a title="os.error" class="reference external" href="os.html#os.error"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">os.error</span></tt></a> if the file does not exist or is inaccessible.</p>
<p class="versionadded">
<span class="versionmodified">New in version 1.5.2.</span></p>
<p class="versionchanged">
<span class="versionmodified">Changed in version 2.3: </span>If <a title="os.stat_float_times" class="reference external" href="os.html#os.stat_float_times"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">os.stat_float_times()</span></tt></a> returns True, the result is a floating point
number.</p>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="os.path.getmtime">
<tt class="descclassname">os.path.</tt><tt class="descname">getmtime</tt><big>(</big><em>path</em><big>)</big><a class="headerlink" href="#os.path.getmtime" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Return the time of last modification of <em>path</em>. The return value is a number
giving the number of seconds since the epoch (see the <a title="Time access and conversions." class="reference external" href="time.html#module-time"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">time</span></tt></a> module).
Raise <a title="os.error" class="reference external" href="os.html#os.error"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">os.error</span></tt></a> if the file does not exist or is inaccessible.</p>
<p class="versionadded">
<span class="versionmodified">New in version 1.5.2.</span></p>
<p class="versionchanged">
<span class="versionmodified">Changed in version 2.3: </span>If <a title="os.stat_float_times" class="reference external" href="os.html#os.stat_float_times"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">os.stat_float_times()</span></tt></a> returns True, the result is a floating point
number.</p>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="os.path.getctime">
<tt class="descclassname">os.path.</tt><tt class="descname">getctime</tt><big>(</big><em>path</em><big>)</big><a class="headerlink" href="#os.path.getctime" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Return the system’s ctime which, on some systems (like Unix) is the time of the
last change, and, on others (like Windows), is the creation time for <em>path</em>.
The return value is a number giving the number of seconds since the epoch (see
the <a title="Time access and conversions." class="reference external" href="time.html#module-time"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">time</span></tt></a> module). Raise <a title="os.error" class="reference external" href="os.html#os.error"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">os.error</span></tt></a> if the file does not exist or
is inaccessible.</p>
<p class="versionadded">
<span class="versionmodified">New in version 2.3.</span></p>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="os.path.getsize">
<tt class="descclassname">os.path.</tt><tt class="descname">getsize</tt><big>(</big><em>path</em><big>)</big><a class="headerlink" href="#os.path.getsize" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Return the size, in bytes, of <em>path</em>. Raise <a title="os.error" class="reference external" href="os.html#os.error"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">os.error</span></tt></a> if the file does
not exist or is inaccessible.</p>
<p class="versionadded">
<span class="versionmodified">New in version 1.5.2.</span></p>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="os.path.isabs">
<tt class="descclassname">os.path.</tt><tt class="descname">isabs</tt><big>(</big><em>path</em><big>)</big><a class="headerlink" href="#os.path.isabs" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd>Return <tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">True</span></tt> if <em>path</em> is an absolute pathname. On Unix, that means it
begins with a slash, on Windows that it begins with a (back)slash after chopping
off a potential drive letter.</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="os.path.isfile">
<tt class="descclassname">os.path.</tt><tt class="descname">isfile</tt><big>(</big><em>path</em><big>)</big><a class="headerlink" href="#os.path.isfile" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd>Return <tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">True</span></tt> if <em>path</em> is an existing regular file. This follows symbolic
links, so both <a title="os.path.islink" class="reference internal" href="#os.path.islink"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">islink()</span></tt></a> and <a title="os.path.isfile" class="reference internal" href="#os.path.isfile"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">isfile()</span></tt></a> can be true for the same path.</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="os.path.isdir">
<tt class="descclassname">os.path.</tt><tt class="descname">isdir</tt><big>(</big><em>path</em><big>)</big><a class="headerlink" href="#os.path.isdir" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd>Return <tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">True</span></tt> if <em>path</em> is an existing directory. This follows symbolic
links, so both <a title="os.path.islink" class="reference internal" href="#os.path.islink"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">islink()</span></tt></a> and <a title="os.path.isdir" class="reference internal" href="#os.path.isdir"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">isdir()</span></tt></a> can be true for the same path.</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="os.path.islink">
<tt class="descclassname">os.path.</tt><tt class="descname">islink</tt><big>(</big><em>path</em><big>)</big><a class="headerlink" href="#os.path.islink" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd>Return <tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">True</span></tt> if <em>path</em> refers to a directory entry that is a symbolic link.
Always <tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">False</span></tt> if symbolic links are not supported.</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="os.path.ismount">
<tt class="descclassname">os.path.</tt><tt class="descname">ismount</tt><big>(</big><em>path</em><big>)</big><a class="headerlink" href="#os.path.ismount" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd>Return <tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">True</span></tt> if pathname <em>path</em> is a <em>mount point</em>: a point in a file
system where a different file system has been mounted. The function checks
whether <em>path</em>‘s parent, <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">path/..</span></tt>, is on a different device than <em>path</em>,
or whether <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">path/..</span></tt> and <em>path</em> point to the same i-node on the same
device — this should detect mount points for all Unix and POSIX variants.</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="os.path.join">
<tt class="descclassname">os.path.</tt><tt class="descname">join</tt><big>(</big><em>path1</em><span class="optional">[</span>, <em>path2</em><span class="optional">[</span>, <em>...</em><span class="optional">]</span><span class="optional">]</span><big>)</big><a class="headerlink" href="#os.path.join" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd>Join one or more path components intelligently. If any component is an absolute
path, all previous components (on Windows, including the previous drive letter,
if there was one) are thrown away, and joining continues. The return value is
the concatenation of <em>path1</em>, and optionally <em>path2</em>, etc., with exactly one
directory separator (<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">os.sep</span></tt>) inserted between components, unless <em>path2</em> is
empty. Note that on Windows, since there is a current directory for each drive,
<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">os.path.join("c:",</span> <span class="pre">"foo")</span></tt> represents a path relative to the current
directory on drive <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">C:</span></tt> (<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">c:foo</span></tt>), not <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">c:\foo</span></tt>.</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="os.path.normcase">
<tt class="descclassname">os.path.</tt><tt class="descname">normcase</tt><big>(</big><em>path</em><big>)</big><a class="headerlink" href="#os.path.normcase" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd>Normalize the case of a pathname. On Unix and Mac OS X, this returns the
path unchanged; on case-insensitive filesystems, it converts the path to
lowercase. On Windows, it also converts forward slashes to backward slashes.</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="os.path.normpath">
<tt class="descclassname">os.path.</tt><tt class="descname">normpath</tt><big>(</big><em>path</em><big>)</big><a class="headerlink" href="#os.path.normpath" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd>Normalize a pathname. This collapses redundant separators and up-level
references so that <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">A//B</span></tt>, <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">A/./B</span></tt> and <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">A/foo/../B</span></tt> all become <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">A/B</span></tt>.
It does not normalize the case (use <a title="os.path.normcase" class="reference internal" href="#os.path.normcase"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">normcase()</span></tt></a> for that). On Windows, it
converts forward slashes to backward slashes. It should be understood that this
may change the meaning of the path if it contains symbolic links!</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="os.path.realpath">
<tt class="descclassname">os.path.</tt><tt class="descname">realpath</tt><big>(</big><em>path</em><big>)</big><a class="headerlink" href="#os.path.realpath" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Return the canonical path of the specified filename, eliminating any symbolic
links encountered in the path (if they are supported by the operating system).</p>
<p class="versionadded">
<span class="versionmodified">New in version 2.2.</span></p>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="os.path.relpath">
<tt class="descclassname">os.path.</tt><tt class="descname">relpath</tt><big>(</big><em>path</em><span class="optional">[</span>, <em>start</em><span class="optional">]</span><big>)</big><a class="headerlink" href="#os.path.relpath" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Return a relative filepath to <em>path</em> either from the current directory or from
an optional <em>start</em> point.</p>
<p><em>start</em> defaults to <a title="os.curdir" class="reference external" href="os.html#os.curdir"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">os.curdir</span></tt></a>. Availability: Windows, Unix.</p>
<p class="versionadded">
<span class="versionmodified">New in version 2.6.</span></p>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="os.path.samefile">
<tt class="descclassname">os.path.</tt><tt class="descname">samefile</tt><big>(</big><em>path1</em>, <em>path2</em><big>)</big><a class="headerlink" href="#os.path.samefile" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd>Return <tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">True</span></tt> if both pathname arguments refer to the same file or directory
(as indicated by device number and i-node number). Raise an exception if a
<a title="os.stat" class="reference external" href="os.html#os.stat"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">os.stat()</span></tt></a> call on either pathname fails. Availability: Unix.</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="os.path.sameopenfile">
<tt class="descclassname">os.path.</tt><tt class="descname">sameopenfile</tt><big>(</big><em>fp1</em>, <em>fp2</em><big>)</big><a class="headerlink" href="#os.path.sameopenfile" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd>Return <tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">True</span></tt> if the file descriptors <em>fp1</em> and <em>fp2</em> refer to the same file.
Availability: Unix.</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="os.path.samestat">
<tt class="descclassname">os.path.</tt><tt class="descname">samestat</tt><big>(</big><em>stat1</em>, <em>stat2</em><big>)</big><a class="headerlink" href="#os.path.samestat" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd>Return <tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">True</span></tt> if the stat tuples <em>stat1</em> and <em>stat2</em> refer to the same file.
These structures may have been returned by <tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">fstat()</span></tt>, <tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">lstat()</span></tt>, or
<tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">stat()</span></tt>. This function implements the underlying comparison used by
<a title="os.path.samefile" class="reference internal" href="#os.path.samefile"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">samefile()</span></tt></a> and <a title="os.path.sameopenfile" class="reference internal" href="#os.path.sameopenfile"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">sameopenfile()</span></tt></a>. Availability: Unix.</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="os.path.split">
<tt class="descclassname">os.path.</tt><tt class="descname">split</tt><big>(</big><em>path</em><big>)</big><a class="headerlink" href="#os.path.split" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd>Split the pathname <em>path</em> into a pair, <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">(head,</span> <span class="pre">tail)</span></tt> where <em>tail</em> is the last
pathname component and <em>head</em> is everything leading up to that. The <em>tail</em> part
will never contain a slash; if <em>path</em> ends in a slash, <em>tail</em> will be empty. If
there is no slash in <em>path</em>, <em>head</em> will be empty. If <em>path</em> is empty, both
<em>head</em> and <em>tail</em> are empty. Trailing slashes are stripped from <em>head</em> unless
it is the root (one or more slashes only). In nearly all cases, <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">join(head,</span>
<span class="pre">tail)</span></tt> equals <em>path</em> (the only exception being when there were multiple slashes
separating <em>head</em> from <em>tail</em>).</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="os.path.splitdrive">
<tt class="descclassname">os.path.</tt><tt class="descname">splitdrive</tt><big>(</big><em>path</em><big>)</big><a class="headerlink" href="#os.path.splitdrive" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Split the pathname <em>path</em> into a pair <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">(drive,</span> <span class="pre">tail)</span></tt> where <em>drive</em> is either
a drive specification or the empty string. On systems which do not use drive
specifications, <em>drive</em> will always be the empty string. In all cases, <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">drive</span>
<span class="pre">+</span> <span class="pre">tail</span></tt> will be the same as <em>path</em>.</p>
<p class="versionadded">
<span class="versionmodified">New in version 1.3.</span></p>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="os.path.splitext">
<tt class="descclassname">os.path.</tt><tt class="descname">splitext</tt><big>(</big><em>path</em><big>)</big><a class="headerlink" href="#os.path.splitext" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Split the pathname <em>path</em> into a pair <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">(root,</span> <span class="pre">ext)</span></tt> such that <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">root</span> <span class="pre">+</span> <span class="pre">ext</span> <span class="pre">==</span>
<span class="pre">path</span></tt>, and <em>ext</em> is empty or begins with a period and contains at most one
period. Leading periods on the basename are ignored; <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">splitext('.cshrc')</span></tt>
returns <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">('.cshrc',</span> <span class="pre">'')</span></tt>.</p>
<p class="versionchanged">
<span class="versionmodified">Changed in version 2.6: </span>Earlier versions could produce an empty root when the only period was the
first character.</p>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="os.path.splitunc">
<tt class="descclassname">os.path.</tt><tt class="descname">splitunc</tt><big>(</big><em>path</em><big>)</big><a class="headerlink" href="#os.path.splitunc" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd>Split the pathname <em>path</em> into a pair <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">(unc,</span> <span class="pre">rest)</span></tt> so that <em>unc</em> is the UNC
mount point (such as <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">r'\\host\mount'</span></tt>), if present, and <em>rest</em> the rest of
the path (such as <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">r'\path\file.ext'</span></tt>). For paths containing drive letters,
<em>unc</em> will always be the empty string. Availability: Windows.</dd></dl>
<dl class="function">
<dt id="os.path.walk">
<tt class="descclassname">os.path.</tt><tt class="descname">walk</tt><big>(</big><em>path</em>, <em>visit</em>, <em>arg</em><big>)</big><a class="headerlink" href="#os.path.walk" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Calls the function <em>visit</em> with arguments <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">(arg,</span> <span class="pre">dirname,</span> <span class="pre">names)</span></tt> for each
directory in the directory tree rooted at <em>path</em> (including <em>path</em> itself, if it
is a directory). The argument <em>dirname</em> specifies the visited directory, the
argument <em>names</em> lists the files in the directory (gotten from
<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">os.listdir(dirname)</span></tt>). The <em>visit</em> function may modify <em>names</em> to influence
the set of directories visited below <em>dirname</em>, e.g. to avoid visiting certain
parts of the tree. (The object referred to by <em>names</em> must be modified in
place, using <a class="reference external" href="../reference/simple_stmts.html#del"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">del</span></tt></a> or slice assignment.)</p>
<div class="admonition note">
<p class="first admonition-title">Note</p>
<p class="last">Symbolic links to directories are not treated as subdirectories, and that
<a title="os.path.walk" class="reference internal" href="#os.path.walk"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">walk()</span></tt></a> therefore will not visit them. To visit linked directories you must
identify them with <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">os.path.islink(file)</span></tt> and <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">os.path.isdir(file)</span></tt>, and
invoke <a title="os.path.walk" class="reference internal" href="#os.path.walk"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">walk()</span></tt></a> as necessary.</p>
</div>
<div class="admonition note">
<p class="first admonition-title">Note</p>
<p class="last">This function is deprecated and has been removed in 3.0 in favor of
<a title="os.walk" class="reference external" href="os.html#os.walk"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">os.walk()</span></tt></a>.</p>
</div>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="data">
<dt id="os.path.supports_unicode_filenames">
<tt class="descclassname">os.path.</tt><tt class="descname">supports_unicode_filenames</tt><a class="headerlink" href="#os.path.supports_unicode_filenames" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>True if arbitrary Unicode strings can be used as file names (within limitations
imposed by the file system), and if <a title="os.listdir" class="reference external" href="os.html#os.listdir"><tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">os.listdir()</span></tt></a> returns Unicode strings
for a Unicode argument.</p>
<p class="versionadded">
<span class="versionmodified">New in version 2.3.</span></p>
</dd></dl>
</div>
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