How to print only the subdirectory tree using python?

Question

I have a directory which holds many sub-directory and inside each sub-directory i have some more sub-sub-directory.

I have a python code which prints and writes the directory and subdirectory in a file. The code :

import os
file = open("list", "w")
for root, dirs, files in os.walk("./customers/"):
   print root
   file.write(root+"\n")

This outputs as :

./customers/A
./customers/A1
./customers/A2
./customers/B
./customers/B1
./customers/B2
./customers/C
./customers/C1
./customers/C2

I just want :

./customers/A1
./customers/A2
./customers/B1
./customers/B2
./customers/C1
./customers/C2

There is no way with that directory structure that the output is as you show. It would output `./customers/A/A1` not `./customers/A1`. — mhawke, Feb 11 '16 at 09:56
you can edit the question if that can help me get the output i desire — , Feb 11 '16 at 10:05

mhawke · Accepted Answer · 2016-02-11T10:32:25.180

You seem reluctant to update your question to make clear what you want, so I will make a guess that you want only the leaf directories. You can do that like this:

import os

with open('list', 'w') as outfile:
    for root, dirs, files in os.walk("./customers/"):
        if not dirs:    # if root has no sub-directories it's a leaf
            print root
            outfile.write(root+"\n")

For your directory structure this should output:

./customers/C/C2
./customers/C/C1
./customers/B/B2
./customers/B/B1
./customers/A/A2
./customers/A/A1

which looks like it might be what you want.

If you want the output sorted you could write a generator function and sort its output:

import os

def find_leaf_directories(top):
    for root, dirs, files in os.walk(top):
        if not dirs:    # if root has no sub-directories it's a leaf
            yield root

with open('list', 'w') as outfile:
    for dir in sorted(find_leaf_directories('./customers/')):
        print dir
        outfile.write(dir+"\n")

Which will output:

./customers/A/A1
./customers/A/A2
./customers/B/B1
./customers/B/B2
./customers/C/C1
./customers/C/C2

lol yeah .. but i want to know one more thing... what to do if i just want to print parent directory , i.e A, B ,C — , Feb 11 '16 at 10:53
This will give you the first level of subdirectories: `root, dirs, files = next(os.walk("./customers/")); print dirs` — mhawke, Feb 11 '16 at 11:24

How to print only the subdirectory tree using python?

1 Answers1