How to check file existence with python

Question

I need to run the desired program in an application I am developing. I know I can run cmd commands with the code os.system in Python's built-in OS module.

But when I run the start command with cmd and try to open an application that is not on the computer, windows shows me an ugly pop-up message. To prevent this, I need to scan the files on the computer and find out if the desired program exists before running the "start" command. How can I do that?

Thanks, it's working – Egemen Köroğlu Dec 18 '21 at 19:45 — Egemen Köroğlu, Dec 18 '21 at 19:45

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 17 '21 at 16:38

1

you can use:

os.path.exists(directory)

To check if a file exists in python. However, it is better to use:

os.path.isfile(directory)

In this case so that you wont get the error message with the path does not point to a file, but still exists.

answered Dec 17 '21 at 16:38

Eli Harold

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Thanks for your answer, but I don't know the exact location of the file, I only know its name (Example: pycharm). Is it possible for me to check for file existence this way? – Egemen Köroğlu Dec 17 '21 at 16:48
how are you executing the file without knowing where it is? – Eli Harold Dec 17 '21 at 19:43
The start command in the command prompt can run some applications (I don't know how). In short, I only have the name of the application. – Egemen Köroğlu Dec 17 '21 at 20:02

How to check file existence with python

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