How can I change directory with Python pathlib

python pathlib
Lukas picture Lukas · Jan 19, 2017 · Viewed 21.6k times · Source

What is the intended way to change directory using the Python pathlib (Documentation) functionality?

Lets assume I create a Path object as follows:

from pathlib import Path
path = Path('/etc')

Currently I just know the following, but that seems to undermine the idea of pathlib.

import os
os.chdir(str(path))

Answer

Lukas picture Lukas · Feb 24, 2017

Based on the comments I realized that pathlib does not help changing directories and that directory changes should be avoided if possible.

Since I needed to call bash scripts outside of Python from the correct directory, I opted for using a context manager for a cleaner way of changing directories similar to this answer:

import os
import contextlib
from pathlib import Path

@contextlib.contextmanager
def working_directory(path):
    """Changes working directory and returns to previous on exit."""
    prev_cwd = Path.cwd()
    os.chdir(path)
    try:
        yield
    finally:
        os.chdir(prev_cwd)

A good alternative is to use the cwd parameter of the subprocess.Popen class as in this answer.

If you are using Python <3.6 and path is actually a pathlib.Path, you need str(path) in the chdir statements.

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