Error when creating a new text file with python?

Question

This function doesn't work and raises an error. Do I need to change any arguments or parameters?

import sys

def write():
    print('Creating new text file') 

    name = input('Enter name of text file: ')+'.txt'  # Name of text file coerced with +.txt

    try:
        file = open(name,'r+')   # Trying to create a new file or open one
        file.close()

    except:
        print('Something went wrong! Can\'t tell what?')
        sys.exit(0) # quit Python

write()

When writing a question, always be sure to state what doesn't work. Is there a syntax error? Does it crash? Does it do something, but not what you intended? Ideally, give us the expected outcome and the actual outcome. "Doesn't work" is too vague. — chepner
– chepner, Commented Aug 30, 2013 at 13:10
Get rid of that harmful "exception handling" block that only prevents you from knowing exactly what went wrong. — bruno desthuilliers
– bruno desthuilliers, Commented Aug 30, 2013 at 13:23
+1 @brunodesthuilliers ! What he means is don't write such generic except blocks. If you are unsure what exceptions are, remove the exception handling and test, you will at least know what's going wrong. — 0xc0de
– 0xc0de, Commented Dec 10, 2015 at 5:15
Out of curiosity, what does open() even do? I've read the answers below and got it working, although I chose to go with 'a+' rather than 'r+' simply because I have a record keeping application in mind. But now that it's working, how do I actually append data? And where exactly is the file I'm creating? ---To specify what 'working' means, I receive as output the following line: <_io.TextIOWrapper name='hello' mode='a+' encoding='cp1252'> — Musixauce3000
– Musixauce3000, Commented Apr 6, 2016 at 15:13

Tom Zych · Accepted Answer · 2014-06-28 11:42:54Z

114

If the file does not exists, open(name,'r+') will fail.

You can use open(name, 'w'), which creates the file if the file does not exist, but it will truncate the existing file.

Alternatively, you can use open(name, 'a'); this will create the file if the file does not exist, but will not truncate the existing file.

edited Jun 28, 2014 at 11:42

Tom Zych

13.7k9 gold badges38 silver badges55 bronze badges

answered Aug 30, 2013 at 13:07

falsetru

371k69 gold badges769 silver badges659 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

3 Comments

KI4JGT Over a year ago

Neither "w" or "a" creates a new file for me.

KI4JGT Over a year ago

Stupid me didn't add the directory Desktop in my path, so I was sitting there missing a part of the file path. . .

jfs Over a year ago

to avoid modifying an existing file, 'x' could be used instead of 'w', 'a'.

SriSreedhar · Accepted Answer · 2015-01-20 04:08:18Z

6

instead of using try-except blocks, you could use, if else

this will not execute if the file is non-existent, open(name,'r+')

if os.path.exists('location\filename.txt'):
    print "File exists"

else:
   open("location\filename.txt", 'w')

'w' creates a file if its non-exis

answered Jan 20, 2015 at 4:08

SriSreedhar

4275 silver badges6 bronze badges

Comments

prathima · Accepted Answer · 2016-03-22 12:21:14Z

6

following script will use to create any kind of file, with user input as extension

import sys
def create():
    print("creating new  file")
    name=raw_input ("enter the name of file:")
    extension=raw_input ("enter extension of file:")
    try:
        name=name+"."+extension
        file=open(name,'a')

        file.close()
    except:
            print("error occured")
            sys.exit(0)

create()

answered Mar 22, 2016 at 12:21

prathima

1131 gold badge2 silver badges9 bronze badges

2 Comments

Alison Over a year ago

Thanks for your answer but sadly doesn't work for me as "error occurred"!!

Desprit Over a year ago

Not following PEP. Using different indentation. Incorrectly handling exception.

icedtrees · Accepted Answer · 2015-01-13 08:08:43Z

3

This works just fine, but instead of

name = input('Enter name of text file: ')+'.txt'

you should use

name = raw_input('Enter name of text file: ')+'.txt'

along with

open(name,'a') or open(name,'w')

edited Jan 13, 2015 at 8:08

icedtrees

6,5466 gold badges28 silver badges35 bronze badges

answered Jan 13, 2015 at 7:25

Ivan

631 bronze badge

2 Comments

falsetru Over a year ago

The question is marked as python-3.x in which raw_input is not available.

Adrian Krupa Over a year ago

Tag python-3.x was added after this answer

Daphnne · Accepted Answer · 2015-03-06 02:47:45Z

1

import sys

def write():
    print('Creating new text file') 

    name = raw_input('Enter name of text file: ')+'.txt'  # Name of text file coerced with +.txt

    try:
        file = open(name,'a')   # Trying to create a new file or open one
        file.close()

    except:
        print('Something went wrong! Can\'t tell what?')
        sys.exit(0) # quit Python

write()

this will work promise :)

answered Mar 6, 2015 at 2:47

Daphnne

1161 gold badge1 silver badge12 bronze badges

2 Comments

user Over a year ago

Does this add anything that didn't already exist in the 2 year old answers above?

Musixauce3000 Over a year ago

He changed name=input() to name=raw_input(). Of course, that's deprecated.

user5449023 · Accepted Answer · 2016-01-11 04:50:37Z

1

You can os.system function for simplicity :

import os
os.system("touch filename.extension")

This invokes system terminal to accomplish the task.

answered Jan 11, 2016 at 4:50

user5449023

1 Comment

f0ster Over a year ago

one of the best things about python is the stdlib abstracts away OS specific utility calls such as touch... best to avoid something like this at all costs

Pkarls · Accepted Answer · 2016-03-14 15:03:51Z

0

You can use open(name, 'a')

However, when you enter filename, use inverted commas on both sides, otherwise ".txt"cannot be added to filename

edited Mar 14, 2016 at 15:03

Pkarls

333 silver badges18 bronze badges

answered Jun 10, 2014 at 8:01

user3725107

334 bronze badges

2 Comments

mc110 Over a year ago

it looks like the previous answer already mentioned open(name, 'a'), so it would have been better to just add your last line as a comment

Tom Zych Over a year ago

"Inverted commas"? Do you mean single quotes? Python doesn't care whether you enclose a string in single quotes or double quotes. It only matters if the string includes a matching delimiter; enclosing it in the other kind can save having to escape the enclosed character.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Error when creating a new text file with python?

7 Answers 7

3 Comments

Comments

2 Comments

2 Comments

2 Comments

1 Comment

2 Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

7 Answers 7

3 Comments

Comments

2 Comments

2 Comments

2 Comments

1 Comment

2 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related