The scandir method of the os module

The scandir method iterates over files and subfolders that are in a folder. In the method parameter, we set the path to the folder. The method returns the os.DirEntry object.

Syntax

pythonimport os

os.scandir(path to directory)

Example

Let's find out the structure of our directory:

pythonimport os

print(os.scandir('dir'))

As a result of executing the code, we will receive the object os.DirEntry:

python<nt.ScandirIterator object at 0x000001478707FF00>

Example

Now let's iterate over the resulting object using a loop. In order to free up system resources, after the loop is complete, it is necessary to close the iteration using the scandir method:

pythonimport os

for file in os.scandir('dir'):
  print(file)
  
  os.scandir('dir').close()

The result of the executed code:

python<DirEntry 'dir1'>
<DirEntry 'file1.txt'>
<DirEntry 'file2.txt'>

Example

We can also output only the file names by applying the name attribute to the resulting object:

pythonimport os

for file in os.scandir('dir'):
  print(file.name)
  
  os.scandir('dir').close()

The result of the executed code:

pythondir1
file1.txt
file2.txt

See also