uniqpath 0.1.1

Generate unique file or directory paths with flexible formatting.

uniqpath

Generate unique file or directory paths by appending customizable suffixes.

Description

uniqpath is a lightweight Python utility to generate unique file or directory paths by adding formatted suffixes.
It helps avoid overwriting existing files by incrementing numeric suffixes or adding randomized strings, UUIDs, or timestamps.

Features

• Incremental numeric suffix {num} starting at 1
• Timestamp suffix {timestamp} (UNIX epoch seconds)
• Random alphanumeric suffix {rand[:n]} with customizable length (default 6)
• UUID suffix {uuid[:n]} truncated to customizable length (default 32)
• Option to add suffix only if original path exists
• Returns either Path or str for integration flexibility
• Simple and dependency-free (only standard library)
• Designed for files and directories

Installation

pip install uniqpath

Usage

from uniqpath import unique_path

# Basic usage with incremental number suffix
p1 = unique_path("output.txt")  # -> output_1.txt if output.txt exists

# Custom suffix with random string of length 8
p2 = unique_path("log.txt", suffix_format="_{rand:8}")

# Use UUID suffix truncated to 6 characters
p3 = unique_path("data", suffix_format="_{uuid:6}")

# Add suffix only if the path exists, otherwise return original path
p4 = unique_path("report.txt", if_exists_only=True)

# Get result as string instead of Path
p5 = unique_path("file.txt", return_str=True)

Parameters

• path (str or Path): The base file or directory path.

• suffix_format (str, default _{num}): Suffix pattern with placeholders:

  • {num}: incrementing number starting from 1
  • {timestamp}: UNIX timestamp in seconds
  • {rand[:n]}: random alphanumeric string, length n (default 6)
  • {uuid[:n]}: UUID4 hex string truncated to n chars (default 32)

• verbose (bool, default False): Enable logging of attempts and results.

• if_exists_only (bool, default True): Only add suffix if base path exists.

• return_str (bool, default False): Return a string path instead of a Path object.

Notes

• The function does not handle concurrency and is not thread-safe.
• Date/time placeholders use current datetime but do not support full strftime syntax.
• The function works for both files and directories.
• Make sure to handle potential race conditions externally if used in parallel environments.

License

MIT License

Author

Julien Rabault — [e-mail]