How do I check if a file is executable in Python without using os.access()?
Ava W

To check if a file is executable in Python without using theos.access() function, you can rely on thestat module along with thest_mode attribute of theos module. This approach allows you to retrieve file metadata and examine the file's permissions. Here's an example of how you can perform this check:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17

import os
import stat

def is_executable(file_path):
    try:
   mode = os.stat(file_path).st_mode
   return stat.S_IXUSR & mode or stat.S_IXGRP & mode or stat.S_IXOTH & mode
    except OSError:
   return False

# Usage:
file_path = input("Enter the path to the file: ")
if is_executable(file_path):
    print("The file is executable.")
else:
    print("The file is not executable or doesn't exist.")

In the above code, theis_executable() function takes afile_path parameter representing the path to the file you want to check. It tries to retrieve the file's metadata usingos.stat(file_path), which returns astat_result object. Thest_mode attribute of thestat_result object contains file mode and permission information. We apply bitwise AND (&) operations between thest_mode and various constants from thestat module to check if any of the user (S_IXUSR), group (S_IXGRP), or others (S_IXOTH) permissions include the executable bit. If any of these bitwise AND operations result in a nonzero value, it indicates that the file is executable. In case anOSError occurs during the retrieval of the file's metadata, such as when the file doesn't exist, the function returnsFalse. You can use theis_executable() function by providing the path to the file you want to check as an argument. It will determine whether the file is executable or not based on its permissions. The result is then printed accordingly. Please note that this approach checks the executable permission based on the file's metadata and not by actually executing the file. It relies on the file system's permissions.

Similar Questions