Python 3 Self replicating file into random directory - then running file

Question

I have a fun little script that i would like to make a copy of itself in a random directory - then run that copy of itself.

I know how to run files with (hacky):

os.system('Filename.py')

And i know how to replicate files with shuttle - but i am stuck at the random directory. Maybe if i could somehow get a list of all directories available and then pick one at random from the list - then remove this directory from the list?

Thanks, Itechmatrix

Answer 1

You can get list of all dirs and subdirs, and shuffle it in random as follows:

import os
import random

all_dirs = [x[0] for x in os.walk('/tmp')]
random.shuffle(all_dirs)

for a_dir in all_dirs:
    print(a_dir)
    # do something witch each directory, e.g. copy some file there. 

Answer 2

You can get a list of directories and then randomly select:

import os
import random
dirs = [d for d in os.listdir('.') if os.path.isdir(d)]
n = random.randrange(len(dirs))
print(dirs[n])

Answer 3

If you're on a Mac, there are a fair amount of hidden and restricted directories near the root. You can potentially run into errors with readability and writability. One way to get around that is to iterate through the available directories and sort all the no goes using the os module. After that you can use the random.choice module to pick a random directory from that list.

import os, random

writing_dir = []
for directory in os.listdir():
   if os.access(directory, W_OK) # W_OK ensures that the path is writable
     writing_dir.append(directory)

path = random.choice(writing_dir)

I'm working on a similar script right now.