pathtub 1.1.1

Reading and editing Windows PATH.

   

🛁 pathtub

Simple python functions for reading and editing Windows PATH variables.

    ✅ Ensuring that an folder exists in Path.
    🧽 Cleaning the PATH (duplicates, removed folders, sorting)
    ✏️ Adding or removing folders to/from Path (temporary or permanently)

Installing

pip install pathtub

Usage

• Ensuring folder is in PATH
• Cleaning PATH
• Rest of the docs

✅ Ensuring folder is in PATH

What is ensure()?

ensure(folder) checks if folder is in Process PATH

• If folder is in Process PATH, does nothing
• If folder is not in Process PATH, adds it to Process PATH
• If folder is not in Process PATH and permanent=True, adds also to the User PATH (permanent) or System PATH (permanent, needs admin rights).

Example code for ensure()

• It is safe to call ensure() every time you load your script, for example. It only does something if folder is not found in your process PATH.
• The last "trailing" backslash of folder (if any) is ignored when comparing to any other folders.

from pathtub import ensure
dll_folder = r'C:\my favourite\dlls'
# 1) Check Process PATH, i.e. os.environ['PATH']
# 2) Add to Process PATH (temporary) if not found
ensure(dll_folder)

Example code for ensure() with permanent addition

• You may also make the addition permanent (& visible to other processes).
• Also this is safe to call every time script is starting.

from pathtub import ensure
dll_folder = r'C:\my favourite\dlls'
# 1) Check Process PATH
# 2) Add to Process PATH if not found
# 3) Add also to User PATH (permanent), if 2) happens
ensure(dll_folder, permanent=True)

• The Process PATH is initiated by copying it from parent process or taking copy of union of the permanent (User/System) PATH when process is started. For more info, see: Windows PATH variables.
• More detailed example: Using pathtub.ensure to add DLL to PATH.
• Full documentation of ensure() is in the source code (pathtools.py).

🧽 Cleaning PATH

Cleaning paths means

1. Removing duplicates from the PATH (trailing backslash neglected)
2. Removing empty entries from PATH
3. Sorting alphabetically (optional, Default: True)
4. Removing folders that do not exist (optional, Default: True)
5. Removing from "User" list the ones that are in the "System" list (optional, default: True)

Screenshots of User PATH before and after clean:

Code example for clean

from pathtub import clean
clean()

# possible parameters:
# clean(sort=True, remove_non_existent=True, remove_user_duplicates=True)

• For more detailed example, see Full example of pathtub.clean
• Full documentation of clean() is in the source code (pathtools.py).

Rest of the docs

Did not find what you were looking for? See the Rest of the docs.