Delete file if it contains a string

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Search for string in txt file Python

How, in python, can I delete a file if it contains a string. I want it to go though all files in a directory, open them, check if they contain a string, if yes, deletes the file and moves onto the next one.

How big are the files? Are they ascii or binary? – mgilson Jan 03 '13 at 14:55 — mgilson, Jan 03 '13 at 14:55

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 03 '13 at 14:58

There are a few pieces to this problem. First, you need a listing of the files. Depending on your needs: glob.glob, os.listdir or os.walk might be appropriate. You also need to know how to open a file and search for the string. The easiest (naive) way to do this is to open the file, read all the contents and check if the string is present:

def check_file_for_string(filename,string):
    with open(filename) as fin:
         return string in fin.read()

This naive way isn't ideal as it will read the entire contents of your file into memory which could be a problem if the files are really big.

Finally, you can use os.remove or os.unlink to delete the file if check_file_for_string returns True.

Exactly what I needed to know. Thanks so much. – Jeremy Jan 03 '13 at 15:10 — Jeremy, Jan 03 '13 at 15:10

Delete file if it contains a string

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