Downloading files using Python

Question

I need to download files from the internet. For that I am using subprocess and calling wget. Is this the right way? The files are hosted on static links and there is no need to log in or anything.

I glanced over urllib but I could not find any example of it being used to download files of other types.

Any suggestions?

Matthew Flaschen · Accepted Answer · 2010-07-14 12:01:47Z

6

Other than what?

urllib.urlretrieve(url)

should work fine for any filetype. You will often want to specify a filename, rather than use a temp file (the default):

urllib.urlretrieve(url, filename)

There are several other libraries too, but this is fine for basic uses.

answered Jul 14, 2010 at 12:01

Matthew Flaschen

286k53 gold badges523 silver badges554 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

user225312 Over a year ago

I thought urllib was for getting only HTML files and then logging in somehow. I will admit I didn't RTM.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Downloading files using Python

1 Answer 1

1 Comment

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

1 Comment

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related