[Tutor] try and file existence

[boB Stepp]

On Fri, Aug 14, 2015 at 10:39 PM, Steven D'Aprano <steve at pearwood.info> wrote:
>
> On Fri, Aug 14, 2015 at 06:28:09PM -0700, Clayton Kirkwood wrote:

> > what is the best way to find out if a file exists?
>
> Try to open it and see what happens. If the open() succeeds, then the
> file exists and can be read. If it fails, then either the file doesn't
> exist, or it can't be read. Inspect the error to find out which.
>
> There is also os.path.exists(filename), but you should avoid using that
> if possible. The problem is this:
>
> if os.path.exists(filename):
>     # file exists *right now*
>     # but a millisecond later, some other program deletes it...
>     # and now it doesn't exist any more
>     with open(filename) as f:  # gives an error
>         ...

I understand your points, but wonder then what is the intended use for
os.path.exists()?  That is, in what types of circumstances would it be
both appropriate and safe to use?

boB