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Answer 1

+2 A:

You'll need to use os.path.expanduser(path)

os.chdir("~/Desktop/testdir/") is looking for a directory named "~" in the current working directory.

Also pay attention to the documentation of that function - specifically that you'll need the $HOME environment variable set properly to ensure that the expansion takes place. Most of the time this wont be a problem but if the expansion doesn't take place, that's the likely reason.

Dan Head 2010-06-01 22:33:36

I didn't know about that one! +1

Chinmay Kanchi 2010-06-01 22:41:40

Very cool, how do I actually use this properly? Is the "path" supposed to be "/Desktop/testdir"? And how do I actually change to that directory. Thanks so much.

Aaron 2010-06-01 23:03:52

Just nest it inside your existing chdir call like so: os.chdir(os.path.expanduser("~/..."))

Dan Head 2010-06-01 23:26:31

That was much easier than I was trying to make it. Thanks again for the help.

Aaron 2010-06-01 23:30:29

Answer 2

+1 A:

From http://docs.python.org/library/os.path.html

os.path.expanduser(path)

Will expand ~ to being the users home directory if it is defined.

Tyler 2010-06-01 22:33:55

I tried os.path.expanduser("/Desktop/testdir") and it is telling me no such file or directory: '/Desktop/test/' Do you know what I might be doing wrong? Ultimately I would like to chdir to ~/Desktop/testdir

Aaron 2010-06-01 23:27:59

os.path.expanduser("~/Desktop/testdir") is what you would need, as Dan Head mentioned, this relies on $HOME being set.

Tyler 2010-06-01 23:34:19

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