how to extract a folder using python

To extract a folder using Python, you can make use of the shutil module, which provides a high-level interface for various file operations. Here are the steps to extract a folder:

1. Import the shutil module: Start by importing the shutil module, which is a standard library in Python.

python import shutil

1. Specify the source and destination paths: Next, define the paths for the source folder (the folder you want to extract) and the destination folder (the location where you want to extract the folder).

python source_folder = '/path/to/source/folder' destination_folder = '/path/to/destination/folder'

1. Use the shutil.unpack_archive() function: The unpack_archive() function from the shutil module is used to extract the contents of an archive file. In this case, the source folder is treated as an archive.

python shutil.unpack_archive(source_folder, destination_folder)

The unpack_archive() function automatically detects the archive format based on the file extension of the source folder.

1. Handling different archive formats: By default, unpack_archive() supports various common archive formats such as ZIP, TAR, and GZIP. If the source folder is in a different format, you can specify the format using the format parameter, which accepts values like 'zip', 'tar', 'gztar', 'bztar', 'xztar', etc.

python shutil.unpack_archive(source_folder, destination_folder, format='zip')

This example specifies the format as 'zip'.

1. Handling errors: The unpack_archive() function raises an exception if it encounters any errors during the extraction process. You can handle these exceptions using a try-except block to gracefully handle any errors that may occur.

python try: shutil.unpack_archive(source_folder, destination_folder) except shutil.ReadError as e: print(f"Error extracting folder: {e}")

This example catches the ReadError exception and prints the error message.

That's it! By following these steps, you can extract a folder using Python and the shutil module.