pathtub 1.0.1

Reading and editing Windows PATH.

pathtub

Simple python functions for reading and editing Windows PATH.

Features

• Uses Powershell commands under the hood
  • $Env:Path
  • [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable(...)
  • [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable(...)
• Is not limited by the 1024 character limit.

Installing

Option A: Install from PyPi

pip install pathtub

Option B: Install from GitHub

• Download this package and run

pip install <this_folder_path>

where <this_folder_path> refers to the folder with the setup.py.

Usage

• Getting path variables
• Setting PATH (User) variables
• Setting PATH (System/Machine) variables
• Removing PATH (User) variables
• Removing PATH (System/Machine) variables
• Checking if folder is in PATH

Getting path variables

from pathtub import get_path

# Reads $Env:Path
path = get_path()
# Reads [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable('Path', 'User')
path_user = get_path("user")
# Reads [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable('Path', 'Machine')
path_machine = get_path("machine")

Example output

In [1]: print(get_path('user')) # returns a str
C:\Python\Python37\Scripts\;C:\Python\Python37\;C:\Python\Python37-32\Scripts\;C:\Python\Python37-32\;C:\Users\USER\AppData\Roaming\npm;C:\Users\USER\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps;C:\Program Files\Microsoft VS Code\bin;C:\Programs;C:\Programs\fciv;C:\texlive\2018\bin\win32;C:\Programs\apache-maven-3.6.2\bin;C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-13.0.1\bin;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Oracle\Java\javapath;C:\Programs\cloc;C:\Users\USER\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code\bin;

• Note: For some reason, the $Env:Path does not always update instantly (without reboot/relogin), even if the [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable('Path', ...) are updated.

Setting PATH (User) variables

• User PATH before edits: Screenshot
• Adding a folder to PATH

In [1]: from pathtub import add_to_path

In [2]: added = add_to_path(r'C:\My new folder\added to user PATH')

In [3]: added
Out[3]: True

# There is protection against adding duplicate entries
In [4]: added = add_to_path(r'C:\My new folder\added to user PATH')

In [5]: added
Out[5]: False

• User PATH after edits: Screenshot

Setting PATH (System/Machine) variables

• Similar to setting User PATH variables
• Change mode to "machine" and Run the script with Admin rights.

from pathtub import add_to_path
added = add_to_path(r'C:\My new folder\added to machine PATH', mode='machine')

Removing PATH (User) variables

In [1]: from pathtub import remove_from_path

In [2]: removed = remove_from_path(r'C:\My new folder\added to user PATH')

In [3]: removed
Out[3]: True

# Can only remove once. Safe to call multiple times.
In [4]: removed = remove_from_path(r'C:\My new folder\added to user PATH')

In [5]: removed
Out[5]: False

Removing PATH (System/Machine) variables

• Similar to removing User PATH variables
• Change mode to "machine" and Run the script with Admin rights.

from pathtub import add_to_path
removed = remove_from_path(r'C:\My new folder\added to machine PATH', mode='machine')

Checking if folder is in PATH

• Note: You don't have to worry if the saved PATH item ends with a backslash or not; both cases are checked.

# Check the `$Env:Path` (Powershell) / `PATH` (cmd) variable
found = is_in_path() # same as is_in_path("path") 

# Checks the `[Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable('Path','User')`; The "User PATH"
found_user = is_in_path("user")

# Checks the `[Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable('Path','Machine')`; The "System PATH"
found = is_in_path("machine")

Example

In [1]: from pathtub import is_in_path

In [2]: found = is_in_path('C:\\Python\\Python37\\', 'user')

In [3]: found
Out[3]: True

# It does not matter if the seach folder or the folder saved
# to PATH has "\" as the last character.
In [4]: found = is_in_path(r'C:\Python\Python37', 'user')

In [5]: found
Out[5]: True

In [6]: found = is_in_path(r'C:\Nonexistent\path', 'user')

In [7]: found
Out[7]: False