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pythonGH-119054: Add "Creating files and directories" section to path…
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…lib docs. (python#120186)

Add dedicated subsection for `pathlib.Path.touch()`, `mkdir()`,
`symlink_to()` and `hardlink_to()`. Also note that `open()`, `write_text()`
and `write_bytes()` are often used to create files.

Co-authored-by: Hugo van Kemenade <[email protected]>
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2 people authored and noahbkim committed Jul 11, 2024
1 parent 2649e4e commit bbf45ef
Showing 1 changed file with 86 additions and 79 deletions.
165 changes: 86 additions & 79 deletions Doc/library/pathlib.rst
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -1343,6 +1343,92 @@ Reading directories
.. versionadded:: 3.12


Creating files and directories
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

.. method:: Path.touch(mode=0o666, exist_ok=True)

Create a file at this given path. If *mode* is given, it is combined
with the process's ``umask`` value to determine the file mode and access
flags. If the file already exists, the function succeeds when *exist_ok*
is true (and its modification time is updated to the current time),
otherwise :exc:`FileExistsError` is raised.

.. seealso::
The :meth:`~Path.open`, :meth:`~Path.write_text` and
:meth:`~Path.write_bytes` methods are often used to create files.


.. method:: Path.mkdir(mode=0o777, parents=False, exist_ok=False)

Create a new directory at this given path. If *mode* is given, it is
combined with the process's ``umask`` value to determine the file mode
and access flags. If the path already exists, :exc:`FileExistsError`
is raised.

If *parents* is true, any missing parents of this path are created
as needed; they are created with the default permissions without taking
*mode* into account (mimicking the POSIX ``mkdir -p`` command).

If *parents* is false (the default), a missing parent raises
:exc:`FileNotFoundError`.

If *exist_ok* is false (the default), :exc:`FileExistsError` is
raised if the target directory already exists.

If *exist_ok* is true, :exc:`FileExistsError` will not be raised unless the given
path already exists in the file system and is not a directory (same
behavior as the POSIX ``mkdir -p`` command).

.. versionchanged:: 3.5
The *exist_ok* parameter was added.


.. method:: Path.symlink_to(target, target_is_directory=False)

Make this path a symbolic link pointing to *target*.

On Windows, a symlink represents either a file or a directory, and does not
morph to the target dynamically. If the target is present, the type of the
symlink will be created to match. Otherwise, the symlink will be created
as a directory if *target_is_directory* is true or a file symlink (the
default) otherwise. On non-Windows platforms, *target_is_directory* is ignored.

::

>>> p = Path('mylink')
>>> p.symlink_to('setup.py')
>>> p.resolve()
PosixPath('/home/antoine/pathlib/setup.py')
>>> p.stat().st_size
956
>>> p.lstat().st_size
8

.. note::
The order of arguments (link, target) is the reverse
of :func:`os.symlink`'s.

.. versionchanged:: 3.13
Raises :exc:`UnsupportedOperation` if :func:`os.symlink` is not
available. In previous versions, :exc:`NotImplementedError` was raised.


.. method:: Path.hardlink_to(target)

Make this path a hard link to the same file as *target*.

.. note::
The order of arguments (link, target) is the reverse
of :func:`os.link`'s.

.. versionadded:: 3.10

.. versionchanged:: 3.13
Raises :exc:`UnsupportedOperation` if :func:`os.link` is not
available. In previous versions, :exc:`NotImplementedError` was raised.


Other methods
^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -1426,31 +1512,6 @@ Other methods
symbolic link's mode is changed rather than its target's.


.. method:: Path.mkdir(mode=0o777, parents=False, exist_ok=False)

Create a new directory at this given path. If *mode* is given, it is
combined with the process' ``umask`` value to determine the file mode
and access flags. If the path already exists, :exc:`FileExistsError`
is raised.

If *parents* is true, any missing parents of this path are created
as needed; they are created with the default permissions without taking
*mode* into account (mimicking the POSIX ``mkdir -p`` command).

If *parents* is false (the default), a missing parent raises
:exc:`FileNotFoundError`.

If *exist_ok* is false (the default), :exc:`FileExistsError` is
raised if the target directory already exists.

If *exist_ok* is true, :exc:`FileExistsError` will not be raised unless the given
path already exists in the file system and is not a directory (same
behavior as the POSIX ``mkdir -p`` command).

.. versionchanged:: 3.5
The *exist_ok* parameter was added.


.. method:: Path.owner(*, follow_symlinks=True)

Return the name of the user owning the file. :exc:`KeyError` is raised
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -1572,60 +1633,6 @@ Other methods
Remove this directory. The directory must be empty.


.. method:: Path.symlink_to(target, target_is_directory=False)

Make this path a symbolic link pointing to *target*.

On Windows, a symlink represents either a file or a directory, and does not
morph to the target dynamically. If the target is present, the type of the
symlink will be created to match. Otherwise, the symlink will be created
as a directory if *target_is_directory* is ``True`` or a file symlink (the
default) otherwise. On non-Windows platforms, *target_is_directory* is ignored.

::

>>> p = Path('mylink')
>>> p.symlink_to('setup.py')
>>> p.resolve()
PosixPath('/home/antoine/pathlib/setup.py')
>>> p.stat().st_size
956
>>> p.lstat().st_size
8

.. note::
The order of arguments (link, target) is the reverse
of :func:`os.symlink`'s.

.. versionchanged:: 3.13
Raises :exc:`UnsupportedOperation` if :func:`os.symlink` is not
available. In previous versions, :exc:`NotImplementedError` was raised.


.. method:: Path.hardlink_to(target)

Make this path a hard link to the same file as *target*.

.. note::
The order of arguments (link, target) is the reverse
of :func:`os.link`'s.

.. versionadded:: 3.10

.. versionchanged:: 3.13
Raises :exc:`UnsupportedOperation` if :func:`os.link` is not
available. In previous versions, :exc:`NotImplementedError` was raised.


.. method:: Path.touch(mode=0o666, exist_ok=True)

Create a file at this given path. If *mode* is given, it is combined
with the process' ``umask`` value to determine the file mode and access
flags. If the file already exists, the function succeeds if *exist_ok*
is true (and its modification time is updated to the current time),
otherwise :exc:`FileExistsError` is raised.


.. method:: Path.unlink(missing_ok=False)

Remove this file or symbolic link. If the path points to a directory,
Expand Down

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