Python Programming: Getting Started With ZIP Files
Have you ever found yourself struggling to send or store large files? Luckily, ZIP files offer a solution to that problem.
ZIP files work by compressing all the files into a single file, which reduces its size and thus makes it easier to store and transfer. ZIP files have been in use since the 1980s and are a popular way to share and store files.
Fortunately, Python has a built-in module that allows developers to read and manipulate ZIP files. In this article, we will explore how Python can be used to manipulate ZIP files.
What is a ZIP File?
At its core, a ZIP file is an archive that contains one or more compressed files.
ZIP files are frequently used to compress documents, videos, images, and other file types to reduce their size. This makes it easier to share and store them.
When you open a ZIP file, you will find two things: a compressed file, and metadata about that file. The compressed file is a combination of all the files compressed into a single file, and the metadata provides information about the compressed file, such as its size, type, and creation date.
Why Use ZIP Files?
There are many benefits of using ZIP files when sending or storing files.
Some of the benefits are:
- Reducing File Size – ZIP files can compress files to a size much smaller than the original file size. This makes it easier to email or upload files.
- Efficient Management – Instead of having to send multiple files, you can compress all your files into a single ZIP file. This makes it easier to manage files.
- Data Exchange – ZIP files are widely used in data exchange. They help reduce the size of files, making it easier to transfer and store them.
Can Python Manipulate ZIP Files?
Yes, Python has a built-in module that allows developers to manipulate ZIP files.
The ZIP file module in Python offers several methods that allow you to manipulate ZIP files. The ZipFile class in Python allows developers to read, write and append data to ZIP files.
The class is also capable of creating new ZIP files from scratch.
Manipulating Existing ZIP Files With Python’s ZipFile
The first task when working with ZIP files is opening the file and performing the desired operations. Opening a ZIP file can be carried out using the ZipFile function in Python.
This function allows you to open the file in different modes, such as read, write, append, and exclusive. Below are the available modes in ZipFile.
- Read Mode – Allows access to the file contents’ read-only version.
- Write Mode – Allows writing new data inside the ZIP archive.
- Append Mode – Allows adding new data to an existing ZIP file.
- Exclusive Mode – Allows adding new data to the ZIP archive in write mode but fails if the file already exists.
Opening ZIP Files for Reading and Writing
Opening ZIP files for reading and writing in Python is easy, with the ‘with’ statement. The ‘with’ statement ensures that the file gets closed properly when you are done using it.
To open an existing ZIP file in Python, use the following code:
import zipfile
with zipfile.ZipFile('name_of_zip_file.zip', 'r') as zip_ref:
To open a new ZIP file, use the following code:
import zipfile
with zipfile.ZipFile('name_of_zip_file.zip', 'w') as zip_ref:
Reading Metadata From ZIP Files
The ZipFile class offers several methods that allow you to read metadata from ZIP files. These methods provide an overview of the compressed files’ metadata, including size, created date, and modification date.
Overview of ZipFile Class Methods
- .printdir() – This method prints all the files in the ZIP archive to the console.
- .getinfo() – This method returns a ZipInfo object containing information about a specific file in the ZIP archive.
- .infolist() – This method returns a list of ZipInfo objects for all files in the ZIP archive.
- .namelist() – This method returns a list of all the filenames in the ZIP archive.
Reading Metadata From ZIP Files
The ZipInfo object is an essential part of reading metadata from ZIP files. It contains metadata such as the size of the compressed file, its creation date, and its modification date.
To access the ZipInfo object, use the getinfo method. You can use this method to get information about a single file:
import zipfile
with zipfile.ZipFile('name_of_zip_file.zip', 'r') as zip_ref:
info = zip_ref.getinfo('file_name.txt')
To get a list of all files using the .infolist() method:
import zipfile
with zipfile.ZipFile('name_of_zip_file.zip') as zip_file:
for info in zip_file.infolist():
print(info.filename)
print(info.date_time)
print(info.compress_size)
print(info.file_size)
Reading From and Writing to Member Files
Reading data from a member file in a ZIP archive can be done using the read() method. This method returns the data from a specific member file in the archive as a bytes object.
For example, to read data from a file named ‘readme.txt’ in a ZIP archive:
import zipfile
with zipfile.ZipFile('name_of_zip_file.zip', 'r') as zip_ref:
with zip_ref.open('readme.txt') as file:
print(file.read())
The write() method, on the other hand, can be used to write data to a member file inside a ZIP archive.
For example, to write data to a new file named ‘file_in_zip.txt’ in a ZIP archive:
import zipfile
with zipfile.ZipFile('name_of_zip_file.zip', 'w') as zip_ref:
with zip_ref.open('file_in_zip.txt', 'w') as file:
file.write(b'This is data written to the ZIP file.')
Extracting files from a ZIP archive can be done with the extract() or extractall() method. The extract() method extracts one single file from the archive, while the extractall() method extracts all files in the archive.
For example, to extract a file named ‘file_to_extract.txt’ from a ZIP archive:
import zipfile
with zipfile.ZipFile('name_of_zip_file.zip', 'r') as zip_ref:
zip_ref.extract('file_to_extract.txt')
Pathlib is another Python module that can be used for working with files and directories. It provides a simpler way to work with file paths.
For example, to extract a file named ‘file_to_extract.txt’ using pathlib:
import zipfile
from pathlib import Path
with zipfile.ZipFile('name_of_zip_file.zip', 'r') as zip_ref:
zip_ref.extract(Path('file_to_extract.txt'))
Conclusion
Python’s zipfile module allows you to work with ZIP files effectively. We covered opening ZIP files, reading metadata from ZIP files, and manipulating member files inside ZIP archives.
Although there is much more to discover about ZIP files and Python, we hope this article has provided a good foundation for your coding journey. Creating, Populating, and Extracting Your Own ZIP Files
In the previous section, we learned how to manipulate existing ZIP files.
In this section, we’ll dive deeper and explore how to create, populate, and extract your own ZIP files.
Creating a ZIP File From Multiple Regular Files
To create a ZIP file from multiple regular files, we can make use of the ‘shutil’ module that provides utility functions for copying and archiving files. We can use ‘shutil’ to create a new ZIP file and write data from one or more files into it.
For example:
import shutil
# The source files
files_to_zip = ['file1.txt', 'file2.txt', 'file3.txt']
# The name of the new ZIP file
zip_file_name = 'new_file.zip'
with zipfile.ZipFile(zip_file_name, 'w') as zip_ref:
for file in files_to_zip:
zip_ref.write(file)
In the above example, we import the ‘shutil’ module and provide the list of source files that we want to include in the new ZIP file. After that, we specify the name of the new ZIP file we want to create and use the ‘with’ statement to ensure proper closing of the file.
Finally, we loop through each file in the list and write their data to the new ZIP file using the ‘write’ method of the ‘ZipFile’ object.
Building a ZIP File From a Directory
Building a ZIP file from a directory is similar to creating a ZIP file from multiple files. We need to provide the ‘shutil’ module with the directory’s name that we want to include in the ZIP file.
For example:
import shutil
# The source directory
source_dir = "/path/to/directory"
# The name of the new ZIP file
zip_file_name = "my_archive.zip"
with zipfile.ZipFile(zip_file_name, "w") as zip_ref:
# Traverse the source directory recursively
for root, dirs, files in os.walk(source_dir):
for file in files:
# Create the full path of the file and add it to the ZIP file
file_path = os.path.join(root, file)
zip_ref.write(file_path)
In the above example, we traverse the source directory recursively using the ‘os.walk’ function. We then loop through each file in the directories and subdirectories to create the full path of each file to be added to the ZIP file.
Then, we use the ‘write’ method of the ‘ZipFile’ object to add each file to the new ZIP archive.
Compressing Files and Directories
Python offers several algorithms for compressing files and directories that can be used with the ‘zlib’, ‘lzma’, and ‘bz2’ modules. For example, the ‘zlib’ module provides the ‘compress’ and ‘decompress’ functions that implement the zlib compression algorithm.
Similarly, ‘lzma’ provides the implementation for the LZMA compression algorithm. For example:
import zlib
# The source file
source_file = "file.txt"
# The compressed file name
comp_file_name = "compressed_file.txt"
with open(source_file, "rb") as src_file:
with open(comp_file_name, "wb") as comp_file:
# Compress the contents of the source file
comp_contents = zlib.compress(src_file.read(), level=9)
comp_file.write(comp_contents)
In the above example, we use the ‘compress’ function of the ‘zlib’ module to compress the contents of a source file. To decompress the file, we can use the ‘decompress’ function.
Creating ZIP Files Sequentially
Creating multiple ZIP files is not much different from creating a single ZIP file. We can use the ‘with’ statement with the ‘ZipFile’ object multiple times to create sequential ZIP files.
For example:
# The list of files to be zipped
files_to_zip = ["file1.txt", "file2.txt", "file3.txt"]
# The prefix name for each ZIP file
zip_prefix = "archive_"
# The destination directory
zip_dir = "zip_files"
# Create the destination directory
os.makedirs(zip_dir, exist_ok=True)
# Create a new ZIP file for each item in the source list
for index, item in enumerate(files_to_zip):
# The name of the current ZIP file
zip_file_name = f"{zip_prefix}{index}.zip"
with zipfile.ZipFile(os.path.join(zip_dir, zip_file_name), "w") as zip_ref:
# Write the item into the ZIP file
zip_ref.write(item)
In the above example, we create a new ZIP file for each item in the list of source files. We specify the prefix name for each ZIP file and a destination directory where new ZIP files will be stored.
Extracting Files and Directories
Python also makes it easy to extract files and directories from a ZIP file. We can do this using the ‘extract’ and ‘extractall’ methods of the ‘ZipFile’ object.
For example:
# The ZIP file containing the file to be extracted
zip_file = "my_archive.zip"
# The name of the file to be extracted
file_to_extract = "file.txt"
# The directory where the extracted file will be stored
extract_dir = "extracted_files"
with zipfile.ZipFile(zip_file, "r") as zip_ref:
# Extract a single file from the ZIP file
zip_ref.extract(file_to_extract, extract_dir)
# Extract all files from the ZIP file
zip_ref.extractall(extract_dir)
In the above example, we use the ‘extract’ method to extract a single file from a ZIP file. We can also use the ‘extractall’ method to extract all files from a ZIP file.
Exploring Additional Classes From Zipfile
The ‘zipfile’ module has several additional classes that offer more specialized functionality for ZIP files.
Finding Path in a ZIP File
The ‘ZipFile’ class provides the ‘getinfo’ method that allows us to get information about a file in the archive, including its path. For example:
import zipfile
# The ZIP file containing the file to be extracted
zip_file = "my_archive.zip"
# The name of the file whose path we want to retrieve
file_to_search = "file.txt"
with zipfile.ZipFile(zip_file, "r") as zip_ref:
# Get the info about the file
file_info = zip_ref.getinfo(file_to_search)
# Print the file path
print(file_info.filename)
Building Importable ZIP Files With PyZipFile
The ‘py_compile’ module provides the ‘compile’ method that we can use to compile a Python source file into bytecode. We can then use the ‘PyZipFile’ class to create an importable ZIP file that includes the compiled bytecode.
For example:
import py_compile
import zipfile
# The name of the source Python file
source_file = "my_module.py"
# The name of the compiled bytecode file
bytecode_file = "my_module.pyc"
# The name of the new ZIP file
zip_file = "my_archive.zip"
# Compile the source file into bytecode
py_compile.compile(source_file, bytecode_file)
# Create a new ZIP file that includes the compiled bytecode
with zipfile.PyZipFile(zip_file, "w") as zip_ref:
zip_ref.writepy()
Running Zipfile From Your Command Line
We can also use the ‘zipfile’ module directly from the command line by using the ‘argparse’ module to provide a command-line interface. This allows us to perform operations on ZIP files by running Python scripts directly from the terminal.
Using Other Libraries to Manage ZIP Files
In addition to the ‘zipfile’ module, several third-party libraries provide support for managing ZIP files. Some of these libraries include ‘lzma’, ‘rarfile’, ‘py7zr’, and ‘patoolib’.
These libraries provide additional features such as support for other compression algorithms and file formats that might not be supported by the ‘zipfile’ module.
Conclusion
In this article, we’ve explored how to create, populate, and extract your own ZIP files using different approaches. We’ve also explored additional classes from the ‘zipfile’ module and other libraries that offer specialized functionality for managing ZIP files.
With the knowledge and examples demonstrated here, we hope to have provided you with a strong foundation for exploring more advanced functionality for managing ZIP files in Python.
Benefits of Using ZIP Files and Python’s Zipfile Module
In this article, we’ve covered the basics of working with ZIP files and Python’s built-in ‘zipfile’ module. We’ve explored how to manipulate ZIP files using Python, read metadata from ZIP files, create, populate, and extract your own ZIP files, and explored additional classes from the ‘zipfile’ module.
Compression
One of the greatest benefits of using ZIP files is compression. ZIP files allow you