ScriptForge.FileSystem service

The FileSystem service includes routines to handle files and folders. Next are some examples of the features provided by this service:

• Verify whether a file or folder exists.

• Create and delete folders and files.

• Launch dialog boxes to open/save files.

• Access the list of files in a folder, etc.

The methods in the FileSystem service are mostly based on the XSimpleFileAccess UNO interface.

Definitions

The table below lists the main parameters used by most of the methods in the FileSystem service.

The FileSystem service allows to perform operations over multiple files at the same time. By using name patterns, user scripts can copy, move or delete multiple files. Conversely, Basic built-in methods can only handle single files.

File Naming Notation

The notation used to express file and folder names, both for arguments and returned values, is defined by the FileNaming property of the FileSystem service.

In short, the possible representation types are "URL" (URL file notation), "SYS" (operating system notation) and "ANY" (default). See more information below.

An example of the URL notation is file:///C:/Documents/my_file.odt. Whenever possible consider using the URL notation because it is a more portable alternative.

The use of the shortcut "~" (tilde), which is common in Linux-based operating systems, is not supported to express a path to a folder and file name. Instead of using "~/Documents/my_file.odt" use the full path "/home/user/Documents/my_file.odt".

Service invocation

The following code snippet invokes the FileSystem service. The method BuildPath was used as an example.

      GlobalScope.BasicLibraries.LoadLibrary("ScriptForge")
      Dim FSO As Object
      Set FSO = CreateScriptService("FileSystem")
      FSO.BuildPath(...)
    

      from scriptforge import CreateScriptService
      fs = CreateScriptService("FileSystem")
      fs.BuildPath(...)
    

Properties

BuildPath

Joins a folder path and the name of a file and returns the full file name with a valid path separator. The path separator is added only if necessary.

svc.BuildPath(foldername: str, name: str): str

foldername: The path with which name will be combined. The specified path does not need to be an existing folder.

name: The name of the file to be appended to foldername. This parameter uses the notation of the current operating system.

      Dim FSO as Object
      Set FSO = CreateScriptService("FileSystem")
      Dim aFileName as String
      FSO.FileNaming = "URL"
      aFileName = FSO.BuildPath("file:///home/user", "sample file.odt")
      ' file:///home/user/sample%20file.odt
    

      fs = CreateScriptService("FileSystem")
      fs.FileNaming = "URL"
      aFileName = fs.BuildPath("file:///home/user", "sample file.odt")
      # file:///home/user/sample%20file.odt
    

CompareFiles

Compares two files and returns True when they seem identical.

Depending on the value of the comparecontents argument, the comparison between both files can be either based only on file attributes (such as the last modified date), or based on the file contents.

svc.CompareFiles(filename1: str, filename2: str, comparecontents: bool = False): bool

filename1, filename2: The files to compare.

comparecontents: When True, the contents of the files are compared (default = False).

      FSO.FileNaming = "SYS"
      If FSO.CompareFiles("C:\myFile1.txt", "C:\myFile2.txt", CompareContents := False) Then
          ' ...
      End If
    

      fs.FileNaming = "SYS"
      if fs.CompareFiles(r"C:\myFile1.txt", r"C:\myFile2.txt", comparecontents = False):
          # ...
    

CopyFile

Copies one or more files from one location to another. Returns True if at least one file has been copied or False if an error occurred.

An error will also occur if the source parameter uses wildcard characters and does not match any files.

The method stops immediately after it encounters an error. The method does not roll back nor does it undo changes made before the error occurred.

svc.CopyFile(source: str, destination: str, overwrite: bool = True): bool

source: It can be a FileName or a NamePattern indicating one or more files to be copied.

destination: It can be either a FileName specifying where the single source file is to be copied, or a FolderName into which the multiple files from source are to be copied.

• If destination does not exist, it is created.

• Wildcard characters are not allowed in destination.

overwrite: If True (default), files may be overwritten. The method will fail if destination is readonly, regardless of the value specified in overwrite.

In the examples below the first line copies a single file whereas the second line copies multiple files using wildcards.

      FSO.CopyFile("C:\Documents\my_file.odt", "C:\Temp\copied_file.odt")
      FSO.CopyFile("C:\Documents\*.*", "C:\Temp\", Overwrite := False)
    

      fs.CopyFile(r"C:\Documents\my_file.odt", r"C:\Temp\copied_file.odt")
      fs.CopyFile(r"C:\Documents\*.*", r"C:\Temp", overwrite = False)
    

Be aware that subfolders and their contents are not copied when wildcards are used in the source argument.

CopyFolder

Copies one or more folders from one location to another. Returns True if at least one folder has been copied or False if an error occurred.

An error will also occur if the source parameter uses wildcard characters and does not match any folders.

The method stops immediately after it encounters an error. The method does not roll back nor does it undo changes made before the error occurred.

svc.CopyFolder(source: str, destination: str, overwrite: bool = True): bool

source: It can be a FolderName or a NamePattern indicating one or more folders to be copied.

destination: Specifies the FolderName into which the single or multiple folders defined in source are to be copied.

• If destination does not exist, it is created.

• Wildcard characters are not allowed in destination.

overwrite: If True (default), files may be overwritten. The method will fail if destination is readonly, regardless of the value specified in overwrite.

In the examples below all files, folders and subfolders are copied.

      ' Basic
      FSO.CopyFolder("C:\Documents\*", "C:\Temp\", Overwrite := False)
    

      # Python
      fs.CopyFolder(r"C:\Documents\*", r"C:\Temp", overwrite = False)
    

CreateFolder

Creates the specified FolderName. Returns True if the folder could be successfully created.

If the specified folder has a parent folder that does not exist, it is created.

svc.CreateFolder(foldername: str): bool

foldername: A string representing the folder to be created. If the folder already exists, an exception will be raised.

      ' Basic
      FSO.CreateFolder("C:\NewFolder")
    

      # Python
      fs.CreateFolder(r"C:\NewFolder")
    

CreateTextFile

Creates a specified file and returns a TextStream service instance that can be used to write to the file.

The method returns a Null object if an error occurred.

svc.CreateTextFile(filename: str, overwrite: bool = True, encoding: str = 'UTF-8'): svc

filename: The name of the file to be created.

overwrite: Boolean value that determines if filename can be overwritten (default = True).

encoding: The character set to be used. The default encoding is "UTF-8".

      Dim myFile As Object
      FSO.FileNaming = "SYS"
      Set myFile = FSO.CreateTextFile("C:\Temp\ThisFile.txt", Overwrite := True)
    

      fs.FileNaming = "SYS"
      myFile = fs.CreateTextFile(r"C:\Temp\ThisFile.txt", overwrite = True)
    

To learn more about the names of character sets, visit IANA's Character Set page. Be aware that Collabora Office does not implement all existing character sets.

DeleteFile

Deletes one or more files. Returns True if at least one file has been deleted or False if an error occurred.

An error will also occur if the filename parameter uses wildcard characters and does not match any files.

The files to be deleted must not be readonly.

The method stops immediately after it encounters an error. The method does not roll back nor does it undo changes made before the error occurred.

svc.DeleteFile(filename: str): bool

filename: It can be a FileName or a NamePattern indicating one or more files to be deleted.

In the examples below only files are deleted, subfolders are not deleted.

      ' Basic
      FSO.DeleteFile("C:\Temp\*.docx")
    

      # Python
      fs.DeleteFile(r"C:\Temp\*.docx")
    

DeleteFolder

Deletes one or more folders. Returns True if at least one folder has been deleted or False if an error occurred.

An error will also occur if the foldername parameter uses wildcard characters and does not match any folders.

The folders to be deleted must not be readonly.

The method stops immediately after it encounters an error. The method does not roll back nor does it undo changes made before the error occurred.

svc.DeleteFolder(foldername: str): bool

foldername: It can be a FolderName or a NamePattern indicating one or more folders to be deleted.

In the examples below only folders and their contents are deleted. Files in the parent folder "C:\Temp" are not deleted.

      ' Basic
      FSO.DeleteFolder("C:\Temp\*")
    

      # Python
      fs.DeleteFolder(r"C:\Temp\*")
    

ExtensionFolder

Returns a string containing the folder where the specified extension package is installed.

The current value of the property SF_FileSystem.FileNaming is used to determine the notation of the returned string.

Use the property Extensions from the Platform service to get string array with the IDs of all installed extensions.

svc.ExtensionFolder(extension: str): str

extension: A string value with the ID of the extension. If the extension is not installed, an exception is raised.

The examples below in Basic and Python return the folder where the APSO extension is installed.

      ' Basic
      sFolder = FSO.ExtensionFolder("apso.python.script.organizer")
      ' file:///home/username/.config/libreoffice/4/user/uno_packages/cache/uno_packages/lu10833wz3u2i.tmp_/apso_1_2_7.oxt
    

      # Python
      sFolder = fs.ExtensionFolder("apso.python.script.organizer")
    

FileExists

Returns True if a given file name is valid and exists, otherwise the method returns False.

If the filename parameter is actually an existing folder name, the method returns False.

svc.FileExists(filename: str): bool

filename: A string representing the file to be tested.

      FSO.FileNaming = "SYS"
      If FSO.FileExists("C:\Documents\my_file.odt") Then
          '...
      End If
    

      fs.FileNaming = "SYS"
      if fs.FileExists(r"C:\Documents\my_file.odt"):
          # ...
    

Files

Returns a zero-based array of the files stored in a given folder. Each entry in the array is a string containing the full path and file name.

If the argument foldername specifies a folder that does not exist, an exception is raised.

The resulting list may be filtered with wildcards.

svc.Files(foldername: str, filter: str = ''): str[0..*]

foldername: A string representing a folder. The folder must exist. This argument must not designate a file.

filter: A string containing wildcards ("?" and "*") that will be applied to the resulting list of files (default = "").

      Dim filesList As Variant, file As String
      FSO.FileNaming = "SYS"
      filesList = FSO.Files("/home/user/", "*.txt")
      For Each file In filesList
          ' ...
      Next file
    

      fs.FileNaming = "SYS"
      filesList = fs.Files("/home/user/", "*.txt")
      for file in fileList:
          # ...
    

FolderExists

Returns True if the specified FolderName is valid and exists, otherwise the method returns False.

If the foldername parameter is actually an existing file name, the method returns False.

svc.FolderExists(foldername: str): bool

foldername: A string representing the folder to be tested.

      FSO.FileNaming = "SYS"
      If FSO.FolderExists("C:\Documents\Thesis") Then
          '...
      End If
    

      fs.FileNaming = "SYS"
      if fs.FolderExists(r"C:\Documents\Thesis")
          # ...
    

GetBaseName

Returns the BaseName (equal to the last component) of a folder or file name, without its extension.

The method does not check if the specified file or folder exists.

svc.GetBaseName(filename: str): str

filename: A string representing the file name and its path.

In the examples below, the first GetBaseName method call corresponds to a folder, so the function returns the last component of the path. The second call receives a file name as input, so the name of the file is returned without its extension.

      MsgBox FSO.GetBaseName("/home/user/Documents") ' "Documents"
      MsgBox FSO.GetBaseName("/home/user/Documents/my_file.ods") ' "my_file"
    

      bas = CreateScriptService("Basic")
      bas.MsgBox(fs.GetBaseName("/home/user/Documents")) # "Documents"
      bas.MsgBox(fs.GetBaseName("/home/user/Documents/my_file.ods")) # "my_file"
    

GetExtension

Returns the extension part of a file or folder name without the dot "." character.

The method does not check for the existence of the specified file or folder.

If this method is applied to a folder name or to a file without an extension, then an empty string is returned.

svc.GetExtension(filename: str): str

filename: A string representing the file name and its path.

      ' Basic
      ext = FSO.GetExtension("C:\Windows\Notepad.exe")  ' "exe"
    

      # Python
      ext = fs.GetExtension(r"C:\Windows\Notepad.exe")  # "exe"
    

GetFileLen

The builtin FileLen Basic function returns the number of bytes contained in a file as a Long value, i.e. up to 2GB.

The GetFileLen method can handle files with much larger sizes by returning a Currency value.

svc.GetFileLen(filename: str): num

filename: A string representing an existing file.

      Dim fLen As Currency
      FSO.FileNaming = "SYS"
      fLen = FSO.GetFileLen("C:\pagefile.sys")
    

      fs.FileNaming = "SYS"
      fLen = fs.GetFileLen(r"C:\pagefile.sys")
    

GetFileModified

Returns the last modified date of a given file.

svc.GetFileModified(filename: str): datetime

filename: A string representing an existing file.

      Dim aDate As Date
      FSO.FileNaming = "SYS"
      aDate = FSO.GetFileModified("C:\Documents\my_file.odt")
    

      fs.FileNaming = "SYS"
      aDate = FSO.GetFileModified(r"C:\Documents\my_file.odt")
    

GetName

Returns the last component of a file or folder name in native operating system format.

The method does not check if the specified file or folder exists.

svc.GetName(filename: str): str

filename: A string representing the file name and its path.

      ' Basic
      a = FSO.GetName("C:\Windows\Notepad.exe")  ' Notepad.exe
    

      # Python
      a = fs.GetName(r"C:\Windows\Notepad.exe")  # Notepad.exe
    

GetParentFolderName

Returns a string containing the name of the parent folder of a specified file or folder name.

The method does not check if the specified file or folder exists.

svc.GetParentFolderName(filename: str): str

filename: A string with the file or folder name to be analyzed.

      ' Basic
      a = FSO.GetParentFolderName("C:\Windows\Notepad.exe")  ' C:\Windows\
    

      # Python
      a = fs.GetParentFolderName(r"C:\Windows\Notepad.exe")  # C:\Windows\
    

GetTempName

Returns a randomly generated temporary file name that is useful for performing operations that require a temporary file.

The returned file name does not have any suffix. The folder part of the returned string is the system's temporary folder.

The method does not create the temporary file.

svc.GetTempName(): str

      Dim fName As String
      FSO.FileNaming = "SYS"
      fName = FSO.GetTempName() & ".txt"
      ' "/tmp/SF_574068.txt"
    

      fs.FileNaming = "SYS"
      fName = FSO.GetTempName() + ".txt"
      # "/tmp/SF_574068.txt"
    

HashFile

Hash functions are used by some cryptographic algorithms, in digital signatures, message authentication codes, fraud detection, fingerprints, checksums (message integrity check), hash tables, password storage and much more.

The HashFile method returns the result of a hash function, applied on a given file and using a specified algorithm. The returned value is a string of lower-case hexadecimal digits.

The hash algorithms supported are: MD5, SHA1, SHA224, SHA256, SHA384 and SHA512.

svc.HashFile(filename: str, algorithm: str): str

filename: A string representing an existing file.

algorithm: One of the supported algorithms.

      ' Basic
      sHash = FSO.HashFile("C:\pagefile.sys", "MD5")
    

      # Python
      sHash = FSO.HashFile(r"C:\pagefile.sys", "MD5")
    

MoveFile

Moves one or more files from one location to another. Returns True if at least one file has been moved or False if an error occurred.

An error will also occur if the source parameter uses wildcard characters and does not match any files.

The method stops immediately after it encounters an error. The method does not roll back nor does it undo changes made before the error occurred.

svc.MoveFile(source: str, destination: str): bool

source: It can be a FileName or NamePattern to designate one or more files to be moved.

destination: If source is a FileName then this parameter indicates the new path and file name of the moved file.

If the move operation involves multiple files, then destination must be a folder name. If it does not exist, it is created.

If source and destination have the same parent folder, the method will rename the source.

Wildcard characters are not allowed in destination.

In the following examples only files are moved, subfolders are not.

      ' Basic
      FSO.MoveFile("C:\Temp1\*.*", "C:\Temp2")
    

      # Python
      fs.MoveFile(r"C:\Temp1\*.*", r"C:\Temp2")
    

MoveFolder

Moves one or more folders from one location to another. Returns True if at least one folder has been moved or False if an error occurred.

An error will also occur if the source parameter uses wildcard characters and does not match any folders.

The method stops immediately after it encounters an error. The method does not roll back nor does it undo changes made before the error occurred.

svc.MoveFolder(source: str, destination: str): bool

source: It can be a FolderName or NamePattern to designate one or more folders to be moved.

destination: If the move operation involves a single folder, then destination is the name and path of the moved folder and it must not exist.

If multiple folders are being moved, then destination designates where the folders in source will be moved into. If destination does not exist, it is created.

Wildcard characters are not allowed in destination.

      ' Basic
      FSO.MoveFolder("C:\Temp1\*", "C:\Temp2")
    

      # Python
      fs.MoveFolder(r"C:\Temp1\*", r"C:\Temp2")
    

Normalize

Returns a string containing the normalized path name by collapsing redundant separators and up-level references.

For instance, the path names A//B, A/B/, A/./B and A/foo/../B are all normalized to A/B.

On Windows, forward slashes "/" are converted to backward slashes "\".

The current value of the property SF_FileSystem.FileNaming is used to determine the notation of the filename argument as well as the format of the returned string.

svc.Normalize(filename: str): str

filename: a string representing a valid path name. The file or directory represented by this argument may not exist.

    FSO.FileNaming = "URL"
    ' file:///home/user/Documents
    normPath = FSO.Normalize("file:///home/user/Documents/")
    ' file:///home/user/Documents
    normPath = FSO.Normalize("file:///home//user//Documents/")
    ' file:///home/user
    normPath = FSO.Normalize("file:///home//user//Documents/../")
  

    fs.FileNaming = "URL"
    normPath = fs.Normalize("file:///home/user/Documents/")
    normPath = fs.Normalize("file:///home//user//Documents/")
    normPath = fs.Normalize("file:///home//user//Documents/../")
  

OpenTextFile

Opens a file and returns a TextStream object that can be used to read from, write to, or append to the file.

Note that the method does not check if the given file is really a text file.

The method returns a Null object (in Basic) or None (in Python) if an error occurred.

svc.OpenTextFile(filename: str, iomode: int = 1, create: bool = False, encoding: str = 'UTF-8'): svc

filename: Identifies the file to open.

iomode: Indicates the input/output mode. It can be one of three constants: svc.ForReading (default), svc.ForWriting, or svc.ForAppending.

create: Boolean value that indicates whether a new file can be created if the specified filename doesn't exist:

• If True a new file and its parent folders will be created if they do not exist;

• If False then new files are not created (default).

encoding: The character set to be used. The default encoding is "UTF-8".

      Dim myFile As Object
      FSO.FileNaming = "SYS"
      Set myFile = FSO.OpenTextFile("C:\Temp\ThisFile.txt", FSO.ForReading)
      If Not IsNull(myFile) Then
          ' ...
      End If
    

      fs.FileNaming = "SYS"
      myFile = fs.OpenTextFile(r"C:\Temp\ThisFile.txt", fs.ForReading)
      if myFile is not None:
          # ...
    

PickFile

Opens a dialog box to open or save files.

If the SAVE mode is set and the picked file exists, a warning message will be displayed.

svc.PickFile(defaultfile: str ='', mode: str = 'OPEN', filter: str = ''): str

defaultfile: This argument is a string composed of a folder and file name:

• The folder part indicates the folder that will be shown when the dialog opens (default = the last selected folder).

• The file part designates the default file to open or save.

mode: A string value that can be either "OPEN" (for input files) or "SAVE" (for output files). The default value is "OPEN".

filter: The extension of the files displayed when the dialog is opened (default = no filter).

The examples below open a file picker with the "txt" filter applied.

      ' Basic
      aFile = FSO.PickFile("C:\Documents", "OPEN", "txt")
    

      # Python
      aFile = fs.PickFile(r"C:\Documents", "OPEN", "txt")
    

PickFolder

Opens a dialog box to select a folder.

svc.PickFolder(defaultfolder: str = '', freetext: str = ''): str

defaultfolder: A string containing the folder name that will be displayed when the dialog is opened (default = the last selected folder).

freetext: Text to display in the dialog (default = "").

      ' Basic
      aFolder = FSO.PickFolder("C:\Documents", "Choose a folder or press Cancel")
    

      # Python
      aFolder = fs.PickFolder(r"C:\Documents", "Choose a folder or press Cancel")
    

SubFolders

Returns a zero-based array of strings corresponding to the folders stored in a given foldername.

The list may be filtered with wildcards.

svc.SubFolders(foldername: str, filter: str = ''): str[0..*]

foldername: A string representing a folder. The folder must exist. foldername must not designate a file.

filter: A string containing wildcards ("?" and "*") that will be applied to the resulting list of folders (default = "").

      Dim folderList As Variant, folder As String
      FSO.FileNaming = "SYS"
      folderList = FSO.SubFolders("/home/user/")
      For Each folder In folderList
          ' ...
      Next folder
    

      fs.FileNaming = "SYS"
      folderList = fs.SubFolders("/home/user/")
      for folder in folderList:
          # ...
    

All ScriptForge Basic routines or identifiers that are prefixed with an underscore character "_" are reserved for internal use. They are not meant be used in Basic macros or Python scripts.