Create multiple subfolders in specific subfolders in Python

Question

If I have a folder test which has multiple subfolders A, B, C, etc., each has same structure sub1, sub2 and sub3:

├─A
│  ├─sub1
│  ├─sub2
│  └─sub3
├─B
│  ├─sub1
│  ├─sub2
│  └─sub3
└─C
|   ├─sub1
|   ├─sub2
|   └─sub3
...

I want to create subfolders named a and b only in sub1 and sub2 and ignore other subfolders (sub3...). This is expected result:

├─A
│  ├─sub1|--a
│  |     |--b
│  ├─sub2|--a
│  |     |--b
│  └─sub3
├─B
│  ├─sub1|--a
│  |     |--b
│  ├─sub2|--a
│  |     |--b
│  └─sub3
└─C
│  ├─sub1|--a
│  |     |--b
│  ├─sub2|--a
│  |     |--b
   └─sub3
...

I can create folders a and b with code below, but I don't how can I do this sub1 and sub2? Thanks.

import os

root_path =r"D:\test"
sub_folders = ['a', 'b']
folders = []
for path in os.listdir(root_path):
   folders.append(os.path.join(root_path, path))

for f in folders:
    os.chdir(f)
    for sub_folder in sub_folders:
        os.mkdir(sub_folder)

Update: the code below doesn't create subfolders a and b:

sub_folders = ['a', 'b']
folders = []

for path in os.listdir(root_path):
    if path in ('sub1', 'sub2'):
        folders.append(os.path.join(root_path, path))

for f in folders:
    os.chdir(f)
    for sub_folder in sub_folders:
        os.mkdir(sub_folder)

UPDATE: the code below works, thanks to @Baltschun Ali.

import os

path = 'C:/Users/User/Desktop/test1'
def create_sub_folder (*arg):
    if len(arg) < 3:
        for i in arg[0]:
            for j in arg[1]:
                path = i+"/"+j
                if os.path.exists(path) is False:
                    os.makedirs(path)
    else:      
        arg1 = [i+"/"+j for i in arg[0] for j in arg[1]]
        create_sub_folder(arg1,*(i for i in arg[2:]))

for dir in os.listdir(path):
    if os.path.isdir(os.path.join(path, dir)):
        print(dir)
        create_sub_folder([dir], ['sub1', 'sub2'],['a','b'])

Baltschun Ali · Accepted Answer · 2019-03-05 07:25:13Z

1

more dynamic.

EDITED CODE

def create_sub_folder (*arg):
    if len(arg) < 3:
        for i in arg[0]:
            for j in arg[1]:
                path = i+"/"+j
                if os.path.exists(path) is False:
                    os.makedirs(path)
    else:      
        arg1 = [i+"/"+j for i in arg[0] for j in arg[1]]
        create_sub_folder(arg1,*(i for i in arg[2:]))

CALL METHOD

create_sub_folder(['A','B'],['sub1','sub2'],['a','b'])

RESULT :

before

after

you can pass more than 3 levels of subfolder just pass more array in arg

create_sub_folder([],[],[],[],[],[],['a','b'])

edited Mar 5, 2019 at 7:25

answered Mar 5, 2019 at 6:33

Baltschun Ali

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4 Comments

ah bon Over a year ago

Thanks for your help. Sorry maybe I was not clear, in fact I already have a folder structure (not need to create "D:\test" but your code is useful to create test data), I just want to create subfolders a, b under sub1 and sub2, not sub1--a, sub1--b, or sub2--a, sub2--b.

Baltschun Ali Over a year ago

sorry, i miss your first question (before you edit it)

ah bon Over a year ago

Thanks, is there a method to avoid to list ['A','B'], because I have handreds of folders at this level in real data?

Baltschun Ali Over a year ago

do you mean, add a subfolder to all parent folder? just get all your parent folder using glob and pass it into first array of arg create_sub_folder(array_folder_from_glob,['sub1','sub2'],['a','b'])

blhsing · Accepted Answer · 2019-03-05 05:20:54Z

1

You can use an if statement in the first for loop to avoid adding the path to the list only if it is one of sub1 and sub2:

for path in os.listdir(root_path):
   if path in ('sub1', 'sub2'):
       folders.append(os.path.join(root_path, path))

answered Mar 5, 2019 at 5:20

blhsing

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1 Comment

ah bon Over a year ago

Thanks, I replace your code but it doesn't work out. Please check update of my question.

gdlmx · Accepted Answer · 2019-03-05 06:04:33Z

1

You can use the glob library:

import glob, os

for new_dir_name in ('a','b'):
    for subn in ('sub1', 'sub2'):
        for sub_folder in glob.glob(os.path.join('*',subn), recursive=True):
            os.mkdir(os.path.join(sub_folder, new_dir_name))

Tested in Linux:

$ mkdir -p {A,B}/sub1 {A,B,C}/sub2 
$ python make_sub_dirs.py # run the python script above
$ ls -R | grep ":$" | sed -e 's/:$//' -e 's/[^-][^\/]*\//--/g' -e 's/^/   /' -e 's/-/|/'

Results:

   |-A
   |---sub1
   |-----a
   |-----b
   |---sub2
   |-----a
   |-----b
   |-B
   |---sub1
   |-----a
   |-----b
   |---sub2
   |-----a
   |-----b
   |-C
   |---sub2
   |-----a
   |-----b
   |-ipp2
   |---log

edited Mar 5, 2019 at 6:04

answered Mar 5, 2019 at 5:32

gdlmx

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5 Comments

ah bon Over a year ago

Thanks for your help, but I hope to create a and b for both sub1 and sub2.

gdlmx Over a year ago

Sorry that I miss this point. Will correct the answer in a moment.

ah bon Over a year ago

I think maybe we should use os.walk, no?

gdlmx Over a year ago

@ahbon That will also work. But glob has the nice feature of "wildcard" expansion so that we don't need to handle the path-pattern matching in our code.

ah bon Over a year ago

I try with your method, it didn't create a and b, did you make folders successfully?

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