How do I change the working directory in Python?

Question

cd is the shell command to change the working directory.

How do I change the current working directory in Python?

Answer 1

Changing the current directory of the script process is trivial. I think the question is actually how to change the current directory of the command window from which a python script is invoked, which is very difficult. A Bat script in Windows or a Bash script in a Bash shell can do this with an ordinary cd command because the shell itself is the interpreter. In both Windows and Linux Python is a program and no program can directly change its parent's environment. However the combination of a simple shell script with a Python script doing most of the hard stuff can achieve the desired result. For example, to make an extended cd command with traversal history for backward/forward/select revisit, I wrote a relatively complex Python script invoked by a simple bat script. The traversal list is stored in a file, with the target directory on the first line. When the python script returns, the bat script reads the first line of the file and makes it the argument to cd. The complete bat script (minus comments for brevity) is:

if _%1 == _. goto cdDone
if _%1 == _? goto help
if /i _%1 NEQ _-H goto doCd
:help
echo d.bat and dSup.py 2016.03.05. Extended chdir.
echo -C = clear traversal list.
echo -B or nothing = backward (to previous dir).
echo -F or - = forward (to next dir).
echo -R = remove current from list and return to previous.
echo -S = select from list.
echo -H, -h, ? = help.
echo . = make window title current directory.
echo Anything else = target directory.
goto done

:doCd
%~dp0dSup.py %1
for /F %%d in ( %~dp0dSupList ) do (
    cd %%d
    if errorlevel 1 ( %~dp0dSup.py -R )
    goto cdDone
)
:cdDone
title %CD%
:done

The python script, dSup.py is:

import sys, os, msvcrt

def indexNoCase ( slist, s ) :
    for idx in range( len( slist )) :
        if slist[idx].upper() == s.upper() :
            return idx
    raise ValueError

# .........main process ...................
if len( sys.argv ) < 2 :
    cmd = 1 # No argument defaults to -B, the most common operation
elif sys.argv[1][0] == '-':
    if len(sys.argv[1]) == 1 :
        cmd = 2 # '-' alone defaults to -F, second most common operation.
    else :
        cmd = 'CBFRS'.find( sys.argv[1][1:2].upper())
else :
    cmd = -1
    dir = os.path.abspath( sys.argv[1] ) + '\n'

# cmd is -1 = path, 0 = C, 1 = B, 2 = F, 3 = R, 4 = S

fo = open( os.path.dirname( sys.argv[0] ) + '\\dSupList', mode = 'a+t' )
fo.seek( 0 )
dlist = fo.readlines( -1 )
if len( dlist ) == 0 :
    dlist.append( os.getcwd() + '\n' ) # Prime new directory list with current.

if cmd == 1 : # B: move backward, i.e. to previous
    target = dlist.pop(0)
    dlist.append( target )
elif cmd == 2 : # F: move forward, i.e. to next
    target = dlist.pop( len( dlist ) - 1 )
    dlist.insert( 0, target )
elif cmd == 3 : # R: remove current from list. This forces cd to previous, a
                # desireable side-effect
    dlist.pop( 0 )
elif cmd == 4 : # S: select from list
# The current directory (dlist[0]) is included essentially as ESC.
    for idx in range( len( dlist )) :
        print( '(' + str( idx ) + ')', dlist[ idx ][:-1])
    while True :
        inp = msvcrt.getche()
        if inp.isdigit() :
            inp = int( inp )
            if inp < len( dlist ) :
                print( '' ) # Print the newline we didn't get from getche.
                break
        print( ' is out of range' )
# Select 0 means the current directory and the list is not changed. Otherwise
# the selected directory is moved to the top of the list. This can be done by
# either rotating the whole list until the selection is at the head or pop it
# and insert it to 0. It isn't obvious which would be better for the user but
# since pop-insert is simpler, it is used.
    if inp > 0 :
        dlist.insert( 0, dlist.pop( inp ))

elif cmd == -1 : # -1: dir is the requested new directory.
# If it is already in the list then remove it before inserting it at the head.
# This takes care of both the common case of it having been recently visited
# and the less common case of user mistakenly requesting current, in which
# case it is already at the head. Deleting and putting it back is a trivial
# inefficiency.
    try:
        dlist.pop( indexNoCase( dlist, dir ))
    except ValueError :
        pass
    dlist = dlist[:9] # Control list length by removing older dirs (should be
                      # no more than one).
    dlist.insert( 0, dir ) 

fo.truncate( 0 )
if cmd != 0 : # C: clear the list
    fo.writelines( dlist )

fo.close()
exit(0)