Cannot access file on pythonanywhere

Question

I have a django project that worked perfectly on my local server returning a response. I am now trying to run it on pythonanywhere, it keeps saying no such directory or file. I initially used the os.path.dirname("__file__") but then I changed it into the absolute address, i.e. "/home/username/projectname/filename" to no avail. That latter method is the only one others on the web are suggesting, but it still isn't working. Is there a special syntax to access files in pythonanywhere? or do you have any suggestions? Thanks.

The following is the line that throws the error:

with open("home/<username>/<project>/layer.pem", "r") as rsa_priv_file:

Directory structure:

are you entering your actual username and project in the fields <username> and <project>? — user3636636
– user3636636, Commented Jun 30, 2015 at 5:09
you must have seen so much in this world :D, yes I am entering the real names. — maininformer
– maininformer, Commented Jun 30, 2015 at 5:10

Glenn · Accepted Answer · 2015-06-30 10:52:51Z

3

If this with open("home/<username>/<project>/layer.pem", "r") as rsa_priv_file: is the actual code you're using, then you're missing a / at the beginning. What you're actually asking for with that code is not the absolute path to layer.pem, but a relative path rooted in the current directory.

Also, the os.path.dirname("__file__") is not working because you quoted the __file__. What you're asking for is the dirname of a file called "__file__" (which will be an empty string), not the dirname of the current file.

answered Jun 30, 2015 at 10:52

Glenn

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5 Comments

maininformer Over a year ago

Thanks Glenn, I will try, but in the file case, it wouldnt work unless i quoted it on my local server.

Glenn Over a year ago

It may "work" in the sense of not raising an exception, but it's not doing anything close to what you expect.

maininformer Over a year ago

Correct, but i made sure im getting a return value, ie i checked it outside the function on a console. No quotes threw the undefined variable error anf with quotes it opened the file. May it be jupyter? Or windows? I am using 2.7.

Glenn Over a year ago

Ah. In Jupyter, __file__ is not defined. I'm not sure why they decided not to set it, but I guess there's a good reason.

maininformer Over a year ago

Interesting! Thank you so much for your help, i will try your guidelines tonight.

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