RPA.FileSystem

Returns the absolute path to a file, and resolves symlinks.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path	null	path that will be resolved

param path:	path that will be resolved
return:	absolute path to file as a string

Appends binary content to the given file.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path	null	path to file to append to
content	Any	null	content to append

See Create Binary File for usage example.

param path:	path to file to append to
param content:	content to append

Appends text to the given file.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path	null	path to file to append to
content	str	null	content to append
encoding	str	utf-8	character encoding of appended content

See Create File for usage example.

param path:	path to file to append to
param content:	content to append
param encoding:	character encoding of appended content

Replaces file extension for file at given path. the file extension can be removed by passing an empty string.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path	null	path to file to rename
extension	str	null	new extension, e.g. .xlsx

param path:	path to file to rename
param extension:
	new extension, e.g. .xlsx

Examples

*** Tasks ***
Change a file extension
    Change file extension
    ...    devdata/work-items-in/default/orders.xls
    ...    .xlsx

Copy directory from source path to destination path.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
source	str, Path	null	path to source directory
destination	str, Path	null	path to copy destination

param source:	path to source directory
param destination:
	path to copy destination

Examples

*** Tasks ***
Copy a directory
    Copy directory    output    temp

Copy a file from source path to destination path.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
source	str, Path	null	path to source file
destination	str, Path	null	path to copy destination

See Is Directory Empty for usage example.

param source:	path to source file
param destination:
	path to copy destination

Copy multiple files to destination folder.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
sources	List[str | Path]	null	list of source files
destination	str, Path	null	path to destination folder

param sources:	list of source files
param destination:
	path to destination folder

Examples

*** Tasks ***
Copy some files
    ${files}=    Find files    devdata/*.json
    Copy files    ${files}    output

Creates a new binary file, and writes content if any is given.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path	null	path to file to write
content	Any, None	None	content to write to file (optional)
overwrite	bool	False	replace destination file if it already exists

param path:	path to file to write
param content:	content to write to file (optional)
param overwrite:
	replace destination file if it already exists

Examples

*** Tasks ***
Create a new file
    ${content}=    Get
    ...    url=https://file-examples.com/storage/fe88505b6162b2538a045ce/2017/10/file_example_JPG_100kB.jpg
    Create binary file    output/sample.jpg    content=${content.content}    overwrite=${True}

Creates a directory and (optionally) non-existing parent directories.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path	null	path to new directory
parents	bool	False	create missing parent directories (defaults to False)
exist_ok	bool	True	continue without errors if directory already exists (defaults to True)

param path:	path to new directory
param parents:	create missing parent directories (defaults to False)
param exist_ok:	continue without errors if directory already exists (defaults to True)

Examples

*** Tasks ***
Create new path
    Create directory    output/my/new/path    parents=${True}

Creates a new text file, and writes content if any is given.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path	null	path to file to write
content	str, None	None	content to write to file (optional)
encoding	str	utf-8	character encoding of written content (default utf-8)
overwrite	bool	False	replace destination file if it already exists (default False)

param path:	path to file to write
param content:	content to write to file (optional)
param encoding:	character encoding of written content (default utf-8)
param overwrite:
	replace destination file if it already exists (default False)

Examples

*** Tasks ***
Create a new file
    ${content}=    Get    url=https://www.example.com
    Create file    output/newfile.html    content=${content.text}
    ...    overwrite=${True}

Returns True if the given directory exists, False if not.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path	null	path to inspected directory

See Does Directory Not Exist for usage example.

param path:	path to inspected directory
return:	true or false if the directory exists

Returns True if the directory does not exist, False if it does.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path	null	path to inspected directory

param path:	path to inspected directory
return:	true or false if the directory does not exists

Examples

*** Tasks  ***
Check for directory
    ${directory_exists}=    Does directory not exist    output
    IF    ${directory_exists}    Create directory    output

Returns True if the given file exists, False if not.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path	null	path to inspected file

param path:	path to inspected file
return:	true or false if file exists

Examples

*** Tasks  ***
Check for file
    ${log_exists}=    Does file exist    output/log.html
    IF    ${log_exists}
        ${file}=    Find files    output/log.html
        Open user browser    ${file}[0]
    END

Returns True if the file does not exist, False if it does.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path	null	path to inspected file

See Does File Exist for usage example.

param path:	path to inspected file
return:	true or false if the files does not exist

Removes all the files in the given directory.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path	null	directory to remove files from

param path:	directory to remove files from

Examples

*** Tasks ***
Empty out directory
    Empty directory    output

Find files recursively according to a pattern.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
pattern	str, Path	null	search path in glob format pattern, e.g. .xls or */orders.txt
include_dirs	bool	True	include directories in results (defaults to True)
include_files	bool	True	include files in results (defaults to True)

param pattern:	search path in glob format pattern, e.g. .xls or */orders.txt
param include_dirs:
	include directories in results (defaults to True)
param include_files:
	include files in results (defaults to True)
return:	list of paths that match the pattern

Examples

*** Tasks  ***
Finding files recursively
    ${files}=    Find files    **/*.log
    FOR    ${file}    IN    @{files}
        Read file    ${file}
    END

Returns the creation time in seconds. Note: Linux sets this whenever file metadata changes

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path	null	path to file to inspect

param path:	path to file to inspect
return:	creation time in seconds as a float

Returns the suffix for the file.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path	null	path to file

param path:	path to file
return:	file suffix as a string

Returns the modified time in seconds.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path	null	path to file to inspect

param path:	path to file to inspect
return:	modified time in seconds as a float

Returns only the full file name portion of a path.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path	null	path to file

param path:	path to file
return:	filename portion of a path as a string

Return the name of the user who owns the file.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path	null	path to file to inspect

param path:	path to file to inspect
return:	file owner as a string

Returns the file size in bytes.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path	null	path to file to inspect

param path:	path to file to inspect
return:	file size in bytes as an int

Returns the name of the file without its extension.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path	null	path to file

param path:	path to file
return:	filename without its suffix as a string

Returns True if the given directory has no files or subdirectories.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path, None	None	path to inspected directory

param path:	path to inspected directory
return:	true or false if the directory is empty

Examples

*** Tasks  ***
Check for empty directory
    ${directory_empty}=    Is directory empty    output
    IF    ${directory_empty}
        Copy file    ${source}    output/new_file.txt
    END

Returns True if the given directory has any files or subdirectories.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path, None	None	path to inspected directory

See Is Directory Empty for usage example.

param path:	path to inspected directory
return:	true or false if the directory is not empty

Returns True if the given file has no content, i.e. has zero size.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path	null	path to inspected file

param path:	path to inspected file
return:	true or false if the file is empty

Returns True if the given file has content, i.e. larger than zero size.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path	null	path to inspected file

param path:	path to inspected file
return:	true or false if the file is not empty

Examples

*** Tasks ***
Check for empty file
    ${file_empty}=    Is file not empty    output/log.html
    IF    ${file_empty}
        Copy file    output/log.html    ${alt_dir}
    END

Joins multiple parts of a path together.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
parts	str, Path	null	Components of the path, e.g. dir, subdir, filename.ext

param parts:	Components of the path, e.g. dir, subdir, filename.ext
return:	complete file path as a single string

Examples

*** Tasks ***
Join path together
    Join path    output/nested    folder

Lists all the directories in the given directory, relative to it.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path, None	None	base directory for search, defaults to current working dir

param path:	base directory for search, defaults to current working dir
return:	list of directories in selected directory

Examples

*** Tasks  ***
List directories
    ${directories}=    List directories in directory    devdata
    FOR    ${path}    IN    @{directories}
        Log    ${path}
    END

Lists all the files in the given directory, relative to it.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path, None	None	base directory for search, defaults to current working directory

param path:	base directory for search, defaults to current working directory
return:	list of files in directory

Examples

*** Tasks  ***
List directory file
    ${files}=    List files in directory    output
    FOR    ${file}    IN    @{files}
        Log    ${file}
    END

Logs all the files in the directory recursively.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path, None	None	base directory to start from, defaults to current working dir

param path:	base directory to start from, defaults to current working dir

Examples

*** Tasks  ***
List directory tree
    Log directory tree

Move a directory from source path to destination path.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
source	str, Path	null	source directory path for moving
destination	str, Path	null	path to move to
overwrite	bool	False	replace destination directory if it already exists (defaults to False)

param source:	source directory path for moving
param destination:
	path to move to
param overwrite:
	replace destination directory if it already exists (defaults to False)

Examples

*** Tasks ***
Move a directory
    Move directory    output    temp

Move a file from source path to destination path, optionally overwriting the destination.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
source	str, Path	null	source file path for moving
destination	str, Path	null	path to move to
overwrite	bool	False	replace destination file if it already exists (defaults to False)

param source:	source file path for moving
param destination:
	path to move to
param overwrite:
	replace destination file if it already exists (defaults to False)

Examples

*** Tasks ***
Move a file
    Create directory    temp
    Move file    output/log.html    temp/log.html

Move multiple files to the destination folder.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
sources	List[str | Path]	null	list of files to move
destination	str, Path	null	path to move destination
overwrite	bool	False	replace destination files if they already exist

param sources:	list of files to move
param destination:
	path to move destination
param overwrite:
	replace destination files if they already exist

Examples

*** Tasks ***
Move some files
    Create directory    temp
    Move files    output/log.html    output/output.xml    temp

Removes redundant separators or up-level references from path.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path	null	path that will be normalized

param path:	path that will be normalized
return:	path to file as a string

Examples

*** Tasks ***
Get normal path
    # Normalized path becomes ../inputs/input.xlsx
    ${normalized_path}=    Normalize path    ..//inputs/./new/../input.xlsx
    Create work items    ${normalized_path}

Reads a file in binary mode and returns the content. Does not attempt to decode the content in any way.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path	null	path to file to read

param path:	path to file to read
return:	the file content as bytes

Examples

*** Tasks ***
Read picture as binary
    ${pictures}=    Find files    **/*.png
    FOR    ${picture}    IN    @{pictures}
        Read binary file    ${picture}
    END

Reads a file as text, with given encoding, and returns the content."

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path	null	path to file to read
encoding	str	utf-8	character encoding of file (default utf-8)

See Find Files for usage example.

param path:	path to file to read
param encoding:	character encoding of file (default utf-8)
return:	file content as string

Removes the given directory, and optionally everything it contains.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path	null	path to directory
recursive	bool	False	remove all subdirectories and files (default to False)

param path:	path to directory
param recursive:
	remove all subdirectories and files (default to False)

Examples

*** Tasks ***
Delete a directory
    Remove directory    output    recursive=${True}

Removes the given file.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path	null	path to the file to remove
missing_ok	bool	True	ignore non-existent file (defaults to True)

param path:	path to the file to remove
param missing_ok:
	ignore non-existent file (defaults to True)

Examples

*** Tasks ***
Delete a file
    Remove file    output/log.html

Removes multiple files.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
paths	str, Path	null	paths to files to be removed
missing_ok	bool	True	ignore non-existent files (default to True)

param paths:	paths to files to be removed
param missing_ok:
	ignore non-existent files (default to True)

Examples

*** Tasks ***
Delete some files
    Remove files    output/log.html    output/output.xml

If file exists at path, execute given keyword with arguments.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path	null	path to file to inspect
keyword	str	null	Robot Framework keyword to execute
args		null	arguments to keyword

param path:	path to file to inspect
param keyword:	Robot Framework keyword to execute
param args:	arguments to keyword

Examples

*** Tasks ***
Execute if orders exists
    Run keyword if file exists    orders.xlsx    Process orders

Creates a file with no content, or if file already exists, updates the modification and access times.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path	null	path to file which is touched

param path:	path to file which is touched

Poll path until it exists, or raise exception if timeout is reached.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path	null	path to poll
timeout	int, float	5.0	time in seconds until keyword fails

param path:	path to poll
param timeout:	time in seconds until keyword fails
return:	path to the created file as a string

Examples

*** Tasks ***
Wait for existence
    Wait until created    orders.xlsx    10
    Process orders    orders.xlsx

Poll path until it has been modified after the keyword was called, or raise exception if timeout is reached.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path	null	path to poll
timeout	int, float	5.0	time in seconds until keyword fails

param path:	path to poll
param timeout:	time in seconds until keyword fails
return:	path to the modified file as a string

Examples

*** Tasks ***
Wait for change
    Wait until modified    orders.xlsx    10
    Process orders    orders.xlsx

Poll path until it doesn't exist, or raise exception if timeout is reached.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Default value	Description
path	str, Path	null	path to poll
timeout	int, float	5.0	time in seconds until keyword fails

param path:	path to poll
param timeout:	time in seconds until keyword fails