Python 2.7 os.mkdir Error – System Cannot Find Specified Path

mkdirpython-2.7

I am trying to create new folders using dictionary keys. The code is:

os.mkdir("Y:\\Bleeding-study\\MIMIC\\Notes\\randombins\\")

for key in index:
    os.mkdir("Y:\\Bleeding-study\\MIMIC\\Notes\\randombins\\batch_%s\\"%str(key))
    os.mkdir("Y:\\Bleeding-study\\MIMIC\\Notes\\randombins\\batch_%s\\%s\\"%(str(key),"config"))
    os.mkdir("Y:\\Bleeding-study\\MIMIC\\Notes\\randombins\\batch_%s\\corpus\\"%str(key))

The error is:
WindowsError: [Error 3] The system cannot find the path specified: 'Y:\\Bleeding-study\\MIMIC\\Notes\\randombins\\batch_0\\'

I thought this code would create that file pathname, so why is it giving this error?

Best Answer

Your error is because you are trying to create multiple levels of directory in one step. os.mkdir() will only create a single level of directory, so this line fails:

os.mkdir("Y:\\Bleeding-study\\MIMIC\\Notes\\randombins\\batch_%s\\"%str(key))
because you have not yet created the batch_0 directory.

os.makedirs() is what you need here:

Recursive directory creation function. Like mkdir(), but makes all intermediate-level directories needed to contain the leaf directory.
...

...and in fact if you use this, then you can do away with the initial os.mkdir(), as it will be redundant.

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