How do I check if a file is readable in Python?
Antek N

In Python, you can check if a file is readable using various approaches. Here's a detailed explanation of how to accomplish this: Using the os.access() function: Theos.access() function allows you to check the accessibility of a file based on the provided permissions. To check if a file is readable, you can use theos.R_OK constant along withos.access().

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import os

def is_file_readable(file_path):
    return os.access(file_path, os.R_OK)

file_path = "myfile.txt"

if is_file_readable(file_path):
    print("The file is readable.")
else:
    print("The file is not readable.")

In this example, theis_file_readable() function usesos.access() to check the readability of a file specified byfile_path. The function returnsTrue if the file is readable andFalse otherwise. Using the try-except block: Another approach is to use a try-except block and attempt to open the file in read mode. If the file can be successfully opened, it is readable; otherwise, an exception is raised.

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def is_file_readable(file_path):
    try:
   with open(file_path, "r"):
  pass
   return True
    except IOError:
   return False

file_path = "myfile.txt"

if is_file_readable(file_path):
    print("The file is readable.")
else:
    print("The file is not readable.")

In this example, theis_file_readable() function tries to open the file specified byfile_path using awith statement. If the file can be opened without any exception being raised, it is considered readable and the function returnsTrue. Otherwise, anIOError exception is caught, indicating that the file is not readable, and the function returnsFalse. Using the os module: You can also use theos module to check if a file is readable by using theos.stat() function to get the file's status and checking the file's mode using bitwise operations.

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import os

def is_file_readable(file_path):
    st = os.stat(file_path)
    return bool(st.st_mode & 0o400)  # Check if the file has read permission

file_path = "myfile.txt"

if is_file_readable(file_path):
    print("The file is readable.")
else:
    print("The file is not readable.")

In this example, theis_file_readable() function usesos.stat() to retrieve the file's status information, including its mode. It then performs a bitwise AND operation between the file's mode and the read permission mask0o400 (octal value), which checks if the file has read permission. If the result is non-zero, indicating that the file is readable, the function returnsTrue. Otherwise, it returnsFalse. Summary: To check if a file is readable in Python, you can use various methods such asos.access(), a try-except block with file opening, or using theos module to check the file's mode. These approaches allow you to determine if a file can be read, and you can handle it accordingly in your code. It's important to consider error handling and handle exceptions appropriately when working with file operations to ensure the smooth execution of your programs.

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