Copy file with pathlib in Python

Question

I try to copy a file with pathlib

import pathlib
import shutil

my_file=pathlib.Path('/etc/hosts')
to_file=pathlib.Path('/tmp/foo')
shutil.copy(my_file, to_file)

I get this exception:

/home/foo_egs_d/bin/python /home/foo_egs_d/src/test-pathlib-copy.py
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/home/foo_egs_d/src/test-pathlib-copy.py", line 6, in <module>
    shutil.copy(my_file, to_file)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/shutil.py", line 117, in copy
    if os.path.isdir(dst):
  File "/home/foo_egs_d/lib/python2.7/genericpath.py", line 41, in isdir
    st = os.stat(s)
TypeError: coercing to Unicode: need string or buffer, PosixPath found

Process finished with exit code

... how to copy file with pathlib in Python 2.7?

Answer 1

To use shutil.copy:

import pathlib
import shutil

my_file = pathlib.Path('/etc/hosts')
to_file = pathlib.Path('/tmp/foo')

shutil.copy(str(my_file), str(to_file))  # For older Python.
shutil.copy(my_file, to_file)  # For newer Python.

The problem is pathlib.Path create a PosixPath object if you're using Unix/Linux, WindowsPath if you're using Microsoft Windows.

With older versions of Python, shutil.copy requires a string as its arguments. For them, use the str function here.