Section 3.6. Current Working Directory
3.6. Current Working DirectoryThe notion of the current working directory (CWD) turns out to be a key concept in some scripts' execution: it's always the implicit place where files processed by the script are assumed to reside unless their names have absolute directory paths. As we saw earlier, os.getcwd lets a script fetch the CWD name explicitly, and os.chdir allows a script to move to a new CWD. Keep in mind, though, that filenames without full pathnames map to the CWD and have nothing to do with your PYTHONPATH setting. Technically, a script is always launched from the CWD, not the directory containing the script file. Conversely, imports always first search the directory containing the script, not the CWD (unless the script happens to also be located in the CWD). Since this distinction is subtle and tends to trip up beginners, let's explore it in more detail. 3.6.1. CWD, Files, and Import PathsWhen you run a Python script by typing a shell command line such as python dir1\dir2\file.py, the CWD is the directory you were in when you typed this command, not dir1\dir2. On the other hand, Python automatically adds the identity of the script's home directory to the front of the module search path such that file.py can always import other files in dir1\dir2 no matter where it is run from. To illustrate, let's write a simple script to echo both its CWD and its module search path: C:\PP3rdEd\Examples\PP3E\System>type whereami.py import os, sys print 'my os.getcwd =>', os.getcwd( ) # show my cwd execution dir print 'my sys.path =>', sys.path[:6] # show first 6 import paths raw_input( ) # wait for keypress if clicked Now, running this script in the directory in which it resides sets the CWD as expected and adds an empty string ('') to the front of the module search path in order to designate the CWD (we met the sys.path module search path earlier): C:\PP3rdEd\Examples\PP3E\System>set PYTHONPATH=C:\PP3rdEd\Examples C:\PP3rdEd\Examples\PP3E\System>python whereami.py my os.getcwd => C:\PP3rdEd\Examples\PP3E\System my sys.path => ['', 'C:\\PP3rdEd\\Examples', 'C:\\Program Files\\Python \\Lib\\plat-win', 'C:\\Program Files\\Python\\Lib', 'C:\\Program Files\\ Python\\DLLs', 'C:\\Program Files\\Python\\Lib\\lib-tk'] But if we run this script from other places, the CWD moves with us (it's the directory where we type commands), and Python adds a directory to the front of the module search path that allows the script to still see files in its own home directory. For instance, when running from one level up (..), the System name added to the front of sys.path will be the first directory that Python searches for imports within whereami.py; it points imports back to the directory containing the script that was run. Filenames without complete paths, though, will be mapped to the CWD (C:\PP3rdEd\Examples\PP3E), not the System subdirectory nested there: C:\PP3rdEd\Examples\PP3E\System>cd .. C:\PP3rdEd\Examples\PP3E>python System\whereami.py my os.getcwd => C:\PP3rdEd\Examples\PP3E my sys.path => ['System', 'C:\\PP3rdEd\\Examples', ...rest same... ] C:\PP3rdEd\Examples\PP3E>cd .. C:\PP3rdEd\Examples>python PP3E\System\whereami.py my os.getcwd => C:\PP3rdEd\Examples my sys.path => ['PP3E\\System', 'C:\\PP3rdEd\\Examples', ...rest same... ] C:\PP3rdEd\Examples\PP3E\System>cd PP3E\System\App C:\PP3rdEd\Examples\PP3E\System\App>python ..\whereami.py my os.getcwd => C:\PP3rdEd\Examples\PP3E\System\App my sys.path => ['..', 'C:\\PP3rdEd\\Examples', ...rest same... ] The net effect is that filenames without directory paths in a script will be mapped to the place where the command was typed (os.getcwd), but imports still have access to the directory of the script being run (via the front of sys.path). Finally, when a file is launched by clicking its icon, the CWD is just the directory that contains the clicked file. The following output, for example, appears in a new DOS console box when whereami.py is double-clicked in Windows Explorer: my os.getcwd => C:\PP3rdEd\Examples\PP3E\System my sys.path => ['C:\\PP3RDED\\EXAMPLES\\PP3E\\SYSTEM', 'C:\\PP3rdEd\\Examples', 'C:\\Program Files\\Python\\Lib\\plat-win', 'C:\\Program Files\\Python\\Lib', 'C:\\Program Files\\Python\\DLLs'] In this case, both the CWD used for filenames and the first import search directory are the directory containing the script file. This all usually works out just as you expect, but there are two pitfalls to avoid:
For example, files in this book, regardless of how they are run (import filehere), can always import other files in their own home directories without package path imports but must go through the PP3E package root to find files anywhere else in the examples tree (from PP3E.dir1.dir2 import filethere), even if they are run from the directory containing the desired external module. As usual for modules, the PP3E\dir1\dir2 directory name could also be added to PYTHONPATH to make files there visible everywhere without package path imports (though adding more directories to PYTHONPATH increases the likelihood of name clashes). In either case, though, imports are always resolved to the script's home directory or other Python search path settings, not to the CWD. 3.6.2. CWD and Command LinesThis distinction between the CWD and import search paths explains why many scripts in this book designed to operate in the current working directory (instead of one whose name is passed in) are run with command lines such as this one: C:\temp>python %X%\PyTools\cleanpyc-py.py process cwd In this example, the Python script file itself lives in the directory C:\PP3rdEd\Examples\PP3E\PyTools, but because it is run from C:\temp, it processes the files located in C:\temp (i.e., in the CWD, not in the script's home directory). To process files elsewhere with such a script, simply cd to the directory to be processed to change the CWD: C:\temp>cd C:\PP2nEd\examples C:\PP3rdEd\examples>python %X%\PyTools\cleanpyc-py.py process cwd Because the CWD is always implied, a cd command tells the script which directory to process in no less certain terms than passing a directory name to the script explicitly, like this: C:\...\PP3E\PyTools>python find.py *.py C:\temp process named dir In this command line, the CWD is the directory containing the script to be run (notice that the script filename has no directory path prefix); but since this script processes a directory named explicitly on the command line (C:\temp), the CWD is irrelevant. Finally, if we want to run such a script located in some other directory in order to process files located in yet another directory, we can simply give directory paths to both: C:\temp>python %X%\PyTools\find.py *.cxx C:\PP3rdEd\Examples\PP3E Here, the script has import visibility to files in its PP3E\PyTools home directory and processes files in the PP3E root, but the CWD is something else entirely (C:\temp). This last form is more to type, of course, but watch for a variety of CWD and explicit script-path command lines like these in this book.
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