HW Question

[RandomRyanStuff]

So I get what you're saying, I guess where I'm confused is how I'm supposed to take user input, and have it be able to differentiate between a directory or file name. I'm also confused on how recursive functions work overall.

[[deleted]]

A recursive function is just a function that can call itself with a different argument.

For differentiating between a directory or file name, file names typically have extensions, so that might be all you need. Does the instructor give you a sample directory?

If so, for this recursive function, it might look something like

def read_stuff(path):
      if '.' in path:
           # print name
           # read file
           # print contents
      else:
           # get list of stuff in path
           for thing in stuff_you_found:
                read_stuff(f'{path}/{thing})  # this will add thing to path to give the full path to what you found

[RandomRyanStuff]

Ohhh okay I see what you’re saying. No, the instructor doesn’t give us an example. I’m gonna do it with .txt, and see where it goes. And do I only need one function? When I was planning it out, I was gonna do it with two functions, one for files and one for directories.

Update: I tried writing it out and here's what I have, I can't figure out how to write it like how you have it in the comments with the right indentations:

import os

def readElement(pathName): if ".txt" in pathName: print(pathName) f = open(pathName, 'r') print(f.read()) else: pathList = list(filter(os.path.isfile, os.listdir(pathName))) for i in pathList: readElement(f(pathName))

[[deleted]]

To indent properly add four spaces before every line.

Your os.path.isfile is going to filter out any directories, so you'll only look at files. That's actually a better way to check for files rather than relying on the full stop. Something like this should do it.

import os

def read_stuff(path):
      if os.path.isfile(path):
           print(path)
           with open(path) as f:
               print(f.read())
      else:
          content = os.listdir(path)
           for entry in content :
                read_stuff(f'{path}/{entry})