I’m trying to write a simple program to read a file and search for a word then print how many times that word is found in the file. Every time I type in «test.rtf» (which is the name of my document) I get this error:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/Users/AshleyStallings/Documents/School Work/Computer Programming/Side Projects/How many? (Python).py", line 9, in <module>
fileScan= open(fileName, 'r') #Opens file
FileNotFoundError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'test.rtf'
In class last semester, I remember my professor saying you have to save the file in a specific place? I’m not sure if he really said that though, but I’m running apple OSx if that helps.
Here’s the important part of my code:
fileName= input("Please enter the name of the file you'd like to use.")
fileScan= open(fileName, 'r') #Opens file
mkrieger1
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asked Jul 15, 2013 at 16:13
1
If the user does not pass the full path to the file (on Unix type systems this means a path that starts with a slash), the path is interpreted relatively to the current working directory. The current working directory usually is the directory in which you started the program. In your case, the file test.rtf must be in the same directory in which you execute the program.
You are obviously performing programming tasks in Python under Mac OS. There, I recommend to work in the terminal (on the command line), i.e. start the terminal, cd to the directory where your input file is located and start the Python script there using the command
$ python script.py
In order to make this work, the directory containing the python executable must be in the PATH, a so-called environment variable that contains directories that are automatically used for searching executables when you enter a command. You should make use of this, because it simplifies daily work greatly. That way, you can simply cd to the directory containing your Python script file and run it.
In any case, if your Python script file and your data input file are not in the same directory, you always have to specify either a relative path between them or you have to use an absolute path for one of them.
wjandrea
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answered Jul 15, 2013 at 16:17
0
Is test.rtf located in the same directory you’re in when you run this?
If not, you’ll need to provide the full path to that file.
Suppose it’s located in
/Users/AshleyStallings/Documents/School Work/Computer Programming/Side Projects/data
In that case you’d enter
data/test.rtf
as your file name
Or it could be in
/Users/AshleyStallings/Documents/School Work/Computer Programming/some_other_folder
In that case you’d enter
../some_other_folder/test.rtf
answered Jul 15, 2013 at 16:18
Jon KiparskyJon Kiparsky
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As noted above the problem is in specifying the path to your file.
The default path in OS X is your home directory (/Users/macbook represented by ~ in terminal …you can change or rename the home directory with the advanced options in System Preferences > Users & Groups).
Or you can specify the path from the drive to your file in the filename:
path = "/Users/macbook/Documents/MyPython/"
myFile = path + fileName
You can also catch the File Not Found Error and give another response using try:
try:
with open(filename) as f:
sequences = pick_lines(f)
except FileNotFoundError:
print("File not found. Check the path variable and filename")
exit()
answered Sep 28, 2018 at 11:12
A good start would be validating the input. In other words, you can make sure that the user has indeed typed a correct path for a real existing file, like this:
import os
fileName = input("Please enter the name of the file you'd like to use.")
while not os.path.isfile(fileName):
fileName = input("Whoops! No such file! Please enter the name of the file you'd like to use.")
This is with a little help from the built in module os, That is a part of the Standard Python Library.
wjandrea
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answered Jul 15, 2013 at 16:27
user1555863user1555863
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You might need to change your path by:
import os
path=os.chdir(str('Here_should_be_the_path_to_your_file')) #This command changes directory
This is what worked for me at least! Hope it works for you too!
answered Feb 19, 2021 at 7:55
RandML000RandML000
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Difficult to give code examples in the comments.
To read the words in the file, you can read the contents of the file, which gets you a string — this is what you were doing before, with the read() method — and then use split() to get the individual words.
Split breaks up a String on the delimiter provided, or on whitespace by default. For example,
"the quick brown fox".split()
produces
['the', 'quick', 'brown', 'fox']
Similarly,
fileScan.read().split()
will give you an array of Strings.
Hope that helps!
answered Jul 15, 2013 at 16:52
Jon KiparskyJon Kiparsky
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First check what’s your file format(e.g: .txt, .json, .csv etc ),
If your file present in PWD , then just give the name of the file along with the file format inside either single(»)or double(«») quote and the appropriate operation mode as your requirement
e.g:
with open('test.txt','r') as f: data=f.readlines() for i in data: print(i)
If your file present in other directory, then just give the full path name where is your file is present and file name along with file format of the file inside either single(»)or double(«») quote and the appropriate operation mode as your requirement.
If it showing unicode error just put either r before quote of file path or else put ‘/’ instead of »
with open(r'C:UserssomanDesktoptest.txt','r') as f: data=f.readlines() for i in data: print(i)
answered Nov 3, 2021 at 7:08
The mistake I did was
my code :
x = open('python.txt')
print(x)
But the problem was in file directory ,I saved it as python.txt instead of just python .
So my file path was
->C:UsersnoobDesktopPythonCourse 2python.txt.txt
That is why it was giving a error.
Name your file without .txt it will run.
Jamiu S.
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answered Aug 14, 2020 at 16:37
Если вы получили сообщение об ошибке «FileNotFoundError: [WinError 2] Система не может найти указанный файл», это означает, что по указанному вами пути нет файла.
В этом руководстве мы узнаем, когда это вызывается программой, и как обрабатывать ошибку FileNotFoundError в Python.
Воссоздание ошибки
Давайте воссоздадим этот скрипт, где интерпретатор Python выдает FileNotFoundError.
В следующей программе мы пытаемся удалить файл, но мы предоставили путь, которого не существует. Python понимает эту ситуацию, как отсутствие файла.
import os
os.remove('C:workspacepythondata.txt')
print('The file is removed.')
В приведенной выше программе мы попытались удалить файл, находящийся по пути C:workspacepythondata.txt.
Консольный вывод:
C:workspacepython>dir data*
Volume in drive C is OS
Volume Serial Number is B24
Directory of C:workspacepython
22-02-2019 21:17 7 data - Copy.txt
20-02-2019 06:24 90 data.csv
2 File(s) 97 bytes
0 Dir(s) 52,524,586,329 bytes free
У нас нет файла, который мы указали в пути. Итак, при запуске программы система не смогла найти файл, что выдаст ошибку FileNotFoundError.
Как решить проблему?
Есть два способа обработки ошибки FileNotFoundError:
- Используйте try-except и обработайте FileNotFoundError.
- Убедитесь, что файл присутствует, и выполните соответствующую операцию с файлом.
В следующей программе мы использовали Try Except. Мы будем хранить код в блоке try, который может вызвать ошибку FileNotFoundError.
import os
try:
os.remove('C:/workspace/python/data.txt')
print('The file is removed.')
except FileNotFoundError:
print('The file is not present.')
Или вы можете проверить, является ли указанный путь файлом. Ниже приведен пример программы.
import os
if os.path.isfile('C:/workspace/python/data.txt'):
print('The file is present.')
else:
print('The file is not present.')
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In this article, we will be addressing a very common error – filenotfounderror – in Python . If you have worked with Python before, you would have faced this situation too, where you write all your code, maintain proper indents in it, put comments line, double-check for mistypes, and after making sure that everything is right and in its place, you run the code and end up getting ‘filenotfounderror’ in the compiler line.
Frustrating, isn’t it? Don’t worry, we will make sure to cover all possible ways to resolve this problem so that you do not encounter it ever again.
Also read: Handling IOErrors in Python – A Complete Guide
What is filenotfounderror
It is a system message that the compiler throws when you are trying to execute a command that requires a file that the system cannot find. It can be for various reasons like – wrong file path specified, the file is present in another directory, or an extension error. We will address the points in this article. But let’s first recreate the problem in our system.
We will be writing a program to load a .csv file into a pandas data frame and then print that data frame.
import pandas as pd
df=pd.read_csv("nifty 2020 crash")
print(df)
How to Fix the Python filenotfounderror?
When you run your python code in the terminal, it searches for the file in the root directory from where the terminal is running. A common misconception people have is that when you run a python code to read a file, the terminal searches that file in the whole computer, which is incorrect.
All your files that are needed for your program should be present in the root directory from where the terminal is activated.
This problem can be resolved in two ways:
Method 1: Specifying the complete file path
When we run our program, we state the file name in the program. The compiler searches for it in the root directory and throws errors. The solution to this problem is specifying the whole file path in the code.
import pandas as pd df = pd.read_csv(r"C:UsersWin 10Desktoppython_errorsolvingnifty 2020 crash.csv") print(df)
Note: Observe, while specifying the file path, we added an r before writing the path, pd.read_csv(r"C:.......). It is used to convert simple strings to raw strings. If we do not add r before specifying our file path, the system is gonna treat that line of code as a normal string input instead of a file path.
Method 2: Using a .txt file to run Python script
In this method, we use a very simple but effective approach to this problem. We write our code in a .txt file and store it in the directory where the file we require is present. When we run this .txt file with python, the compiler searches for that file only in that directory. This method does not require us to specify the whole file path but we need to make sure that the terminal has been run from the right directory.
To illustrate this example, we have created a directory in our desktop named, ‘python_errorsolving’. This directory contains two files, – the .txt file containing python codes and the .csv file we needed for our code.
To run this file from the terminal, go to the directory manually using cd, and then run this file with syntax python error_crt.txt or whatever your file name is.
As you can see, this method does not require us to specify the whole file path. It is useful when you have to work with multiple files because specifying the whole path for each specific file can be a tedious job.
Method 3: Workaround for filenotfounderror
This is not a solution but rather a workaround for this problem. Suppose you are in a certain situation where the file path is the same but you have to load consecutive different files. In that case, you can store your filename and file path in two different variables and then concatenate them in a third variable. This way you can make combinations of multiple different files, and then load them easily.
To illustrate this solution, we will create a .txt file, with the codes:
import pandas as pd filename = "nifty 2020 crash.csv" filepath = "C:\Users\Win 10\Desktop\python_errorsolving\" file = filepath+filename df = pd.read_csv(file) print(df)
Using an IDE to fix the filenotfounderror
Integrated development environments or IDE’s are a great way to manage our files and environment variables. This helps to create virtual environments for your codes so that the needed libraries and environment variables do not interact with our other projects. In this section, we will create a project in PyCharm IDE, and see how easily we can store and interact with our files.
To demonstrate this example, we have created a .csv file containing school records, and it is named ‘book1.csv’. To import it in PyCharm, follow these steps:
Step 1: Go to File>new project…>give a file name>create.
Step 2: Copy your .csv file and paste it into that project.
Once you paste the file, you can directly access that file with your codes, without having to specify the whole path. You can simply work with the filename.
import pandas as pd
df = pd.read_csv('Book1.csv', sep='|')
print(df)
Result:
Conclusion
In this article, we have observed the different cases where the system cannot locate your files. We also looked at the different solutions that are possible to these problems, from manually specifying paths, to using IDE’s for a better outcome. I hope this article solved your problem
The error FileNotFoundError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory means that Python can’t find the file or directory you are trying to access.
This error can come from calling the open() function or the os module functions that deal with files and directories.
To fix this error, you need to specify the correct path to an existing file.
Let’s see real-world examples that trigger this error and how to fix them.
Error from open() function
Suppose you use Python to open and read a file named output.txt as follows:
with open('output.txt', 'r') as f:
data = f.read()
Python will look for the output.txt file in the current directory where the code is executed.
If not found, then Python responds with the following error:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File ...
with open('output.txt', 'r') as f:
FileNotFoundError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'output.txt'
If the file exists but in a different directory, then you need to specify the correct path to that file.
Maybe the output.txt file exists in a subdirectory like this:
.
├── logs
│ └── output.txt
└── script.py
To access the file, you need to specify the directory as follows:
with open('logs/output.txt', 'r') as f:
data = f.read()
This way, Python will look for the output.txt file inside the logs folder.
Sometimes, you might also have a file located in a sibling directory of the script location as follows:
.
├── code
│ └── script.py
└── logs
└── output.txt
In this case, the script.py file is located inside the code folder, and the output.txt file is located inside the logs folder.
To access output.txt, you need to go up one level from as follows:
with open('../logs/output.txt', 'r') as f:
data = f.read()
The path ../ tells Python to go up one level from the working directory (where the script is executed)
This way, Python will be able to access the logs directory, which is a sibling of the code directory.
Alternatively, you can also specify the absolute path to the file instead of a relative path.
The absolute path shows the full path to your file from the root directory of your system. It should look something like this:
# Windows absolute path
C:Userssebhastiandocumentslogs
# Mac or Linux
/home/user/sebhastian/documents/logs
Pass the absolute path and the file name as an argument to your open() function:
with open('C:Userssebhastiandocumentslogsoutput.txt', 'r') as f:
data = f.read()
You can add a try/except statement to let Python create the file when it doesn’t exist.
try:
with open('output.txt', 'r') as f:
data = f.read()
except FileNotFoundError:
print("The file output.txt is not found")
print("Creating a new file")
open('output.txt', 'w') as f:
f.write("Hello World!")
The code above will try to open and read the output.txt file.
When the file is not found, it will create a new file with the same name and write some strings into it.
Also, make sure that the filename or the path is not misspelled or mistyped, as this is a common cause of this error as well.
Error from os.listdir() function
You can also have this error when using a function from the os module that deals with files and directories.
For example, the os.listdir() is used to get a list of all the files and directories in a given directory.
It takes one argument, which is the path of the directory you want to scan:
import os
files = os.listdir("assets")
print(files)
The above code tries to access the assets directory and retrieve the names of all files and directories in that directory.
If the assets directory doesn’t exist, Python responds with an error:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File ...
files = os.listdir("assets")
FileNotFoundError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'assets'
The solution for this error is the same. You need to specify the correct path to an existing directory.
If the directory exists on your system but empty, then Python won’t raise this error. It will return an empty list instead.
Also, make sure that your Python interpreter has the necessary permission to open the file. Otherwise, you will see a PermissionError message.
Conclusion
Python shows the FileNotFoundError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory message when it can’t find the file or directory you specified.
To solve this error, make sure you the file exists and the path is correct.
Alternatively, you can also use the try/except block to let Python handle the error without stopping the code execution.
![ModuleNotFoundError: no module named Python Error [Fixed]](https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/content/images/size/w2000/2022/09/module-not-found-error.png)
When you try to import a module in a Python file, Python tries to resolve this module in several ways. Sometimes, Python throws the ModuleNotFoundError afterward. What does this error mean in Python?
As the name implies, this error occurs when you’re trying to access or use a module that cannot be found. In the case of the title, the «module named Python» cannot be found.
Python here can be any module. Here’s an error when I try to import a numpys module that cannot be found:
import numpys as np
Here’s what the error looks like:
Here are a few reasons why a module may not be found:
- you do not have the module you tried importing installed on your computer
- you spelled a module incorrectly (which still links back to the previous point, that the misspelled module is not installed)…for example, spelling
numpyasnumpysduring import - you use an incorrect casing for a module (which still links back to the first point)…for example, spelling
numpyasNumPyduring import will throw the module not found error as both modules are «not the same» - you are importing a module using the wrong path
How to fix the ModuleNotFoundError in Python
As I mentioned in the previous section, there are a couple of reasons a module may not be found. Here are some solutions.
1. Make sure imported modules are installed
Take for example, numpy. You use this module in your code in a file called «test.py» like this:
import numpy as np
arr = np.array([1, 2, 3])
print(arr)
If you try to run this code with python test.py and you get this error:
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named "numpy"
Then it’s most likely possible that the numpy module is not installed on your device. You can install the module like this:
python -m pip install numpy
When installed, the previous code will work correctly and you get the result printed in your terminal:
[1, 2, 3]
2. Make sure modules are spelled correctly
In some cases, you may have installed the module you need, but trying to use it still throws the ModuleNotFound error. In such cases, it could be that you spelled it incorrectly. Take, for example, this code:
import nompy as np
arr = np.array([1, 2, 3])
print(arr)
Here, you have installed numpy but running the above code throws this error:
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named "nompy"
This error comes as a result of the misspelled numpy module as nompy (with the letter o instead of u). You can fix this error by spelling the module correctly.
3. Make sure modules are in the right casing
Similar to the misspelling issue for module not found errors, it could also be that you are spelling the module correctly, but in the wrong casing. Here’s an example:
import Numpy as np
arr = np.array([1, 2, 3])
print(arr)
For this code, you have numpy installed but running the above code will throw this error:
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'Numpy'
Due to casing differences, numpy and Numpy are different modules. You can fix this error by spelling the module in the right casing.
4. Make sure you use the right paths
In Python, you can import modules from other files using absolute or relative paths. For this example, I’ll focus on absolute paths.
When you try to access a module from the wrong path, you will also get the module not found here. Here’s an example:
Let’s say you have a project folder called test. In it, you have two folders demoA and demoB.
demoA has an __init__.py file (to show it’s a Python package) and a test1.py module.
demoA also has an __init__.py file and a test2.py module.
Here’s the structure:
└── test
├── demoA
├── __init__.py
│ ├── test1.py
└── demoB
├── __init__.py
├── test2.py
Here are the contents of test1.py:
def hello():
print("hello")
And let’s say you want to use this declared hello function in test2.py. The following code will throw a module not found error:
import demoA.test as test1
test1.hello()
This code will throw the following error:
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'demoA.test'
The reason for this is that we have used the wrong path to access the test1 module. The right path should be demoA.test1. When you correct that, the code works:
import demoA.test1 as test1
test1.hello()
# hello
Wrapping up
For resolving an imported module, Python checks places like the inbuilt library, installed modules, and modules in the current project. If it’s unable to resolve that module, it throws the ModuleNotFoundError.
Sometimes you do not have that module installed, so you have to install it. Sometimes it’s a misspelled module, or the naming with the wrong casing, or a wrong path. In this article, I’ve shown four possible ways of fixing this error if you experience it.
I hope you learned from it 
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