How can I find script's directory?

ghz 3months ago ⋅ 77 views

Consider the following Python code:

import os
print os.getcwd()

I use os.getcwd() to get the script file's directory location. When I run the script from the command line it gives me the correct path whereas when I run it from a script run by code in a Django view it prints /.

How can I get the path to the script from within a script run by a Django view?

UPDATE: Summing up the answers thus far - os.getcwd() and os.path.abspath() both give the current working directory which may or may not be the directory where the script resides. In my web host setup __file__ gives only the filename without the path.

Isn't there any way in Python to (always) be able to receive the path in which the script resides?

Answers

To reliably get the path of the script file (where it resides) in Python, you can use the __file__ attribute. This works regardless of whether you're running the script directly from the command line or from within a Django view. However, if the __file__ variable only gives the script's filename without the path, you can resolve this issue by using os.path.abspath() and os.path.dirname().

Here’s how you can always get the directory of the script file, even when it's executed inside a Django view:

import os

# Get the absolute path to the script file (__file__ gives the script's filename or relative path)
script_directory = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))

print(script_directory)

Explanation:

  1. __file__ gives the filename of the current script.
  2. os.path.abspath(__file__) converts the relative file path to an absolute one.
  3. os.path.dirname() extracts the directory path from the full absolute path.

This will give you the directory where the script resides, even if you run it within a Django view or any other environment.

Notes for Django:

  • If you're running this code in a Django view or any other web environment where the working directory is different, os.getcwd() will give the root directory of the web server (like /), which is likely why you're seeing / when running the script inside Django.
  • Using os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)) ensures that you're getting the path of the script itself, not the working directory of the environment.

This approach should work consistently across different environments (command line, Django views, etc.).

#python