File System Built-ins

ZPy provides built-in functions for file system operations.

Note: For additional OS utilities (working directory, path operations, environment variables, etc.), see OS Module.

Special Variables

__file__

The path of the currently running script.

print("Running from:", __file__)
# Output: Running from: ./examples/script.zpy

__dir__

The directory containing the currently running script. Use this to reference files relative to the script's location.

# Read a file next to the script
content = file_read(__dir__ + "/data.txt")

This is especially useful when running scripts from different directories:

# Both of these work correctly now:
zpy ./examples/script.zpy
cd examples && zpy script.zpy

File Operations

file_read(path)

Reads the contents of a file. Returns none if the file doesn't exist.

content = file_read("data.txt")
if content:
    print(content)
else:
    print("File not found or empty")

file_write(path, content)

Writes content to a file. Creates the file if it doesn't exist, overwrites if it does.

file_write("output.txt", "Hello, World!")

file_append(path, content)

Appends content to the end of a file. Creates the file if it doesn't exist.

file_append("log.txt", "New log entry\n")

file_delete(path)

Deletes a file. Returns true on success, false on failure.

if file_delete("temp.txt"):
    print("File deleted")
else:
    print("Could not delete file")

file_exists(path)

Checks if a file exists. Returns true or false.

if file_exists("config.txt"):
    config = file_read("config.txt")

Directory Operations

dir_list(path)

Returns a list of filenames in a directory.

files = dir_list(".")
for f in files:
    print(f)

dir_create(path)

Creates a directory.

dir_create("new_folder")

dir_exists(path)

Checks if a directory exists. Returns true or false.

if dir_exists("data"):
    files = dir_list("data")

Example: Log File

# Write initial log
file_write("app.log", "=== Application Started ===\n")

# Append entries
file_append("app.log", "User logged in\n")
file_append("app.log", "Processing data...\n")
file_append("app.log", "Done!\n")

# Read and display
log = file_read("app.log")
print(log)

Example: Configuration

# Check for config file
config_file = "config.txt"

if file_exists(config_file):
    # Read existing config
    config = file_read(config_file)
    print("Loaded config:", config)
else:
    # Create default config
    file_write(config_file, "theme=dark\nlang=en\n")
    print("Created default config")

Example: Directory Processing

# List all files in a directory
dir_path = "data"

if dir_exists(dir_path):
    files = dir_list(dir_path)
    print("Found", len(files), "files:")
    for f in files:
        print("  -", f)
else:
    print("Directory not found:", dir_path)
    dir_create(dir_path)
    print("Created directory:", dir_path)

Summary Table

Function	Description	Returns
file_read(path)	Read file contents	string or none
file_write(path, content)	Write to file	none
file_append(path, content)	Append to file	none
file_delete(path)	Delete file	bool
file_exists(path)	Check if file exists	bool
dir_list(path)	List directory contents	list
dir_create(path)	Create directory	none
dir_exists(path)	Check if directory exists	bool