Python - Recursive subfolder loop

Question

I'm looking to build a dictionary based on a directory's subfolders. Note that this isn't an OS directory, so I can't use the os library. The below code works, but is limited to 3 levels of subdirectories. How can I build a loop that will handle any number of subdirectories?

 if isinstance(parentfolder, Folder):
    for child in parentfolder.child:
        subchildren = []
        if isinstance(child, Folder):
           for subchild in child.child: 
              if isinstance(subchild, Folder):
                 subchildren.append({'folder' : subchild})
           children.append({'folder' : subchildren})
    DirDict.append({'folder' : parentfolder, 'children': children })

The desired outcome is a dictionary that looks something like the following, while the child folder meets the "isinstance" condition :

{'folder' : 'somefolder', 'children' : { 'folder' : 'somechildfolder', 'children' : { 'folder' : 'somegrandchildfolder' [,...] } } }

Have you tried writing a recursive function, like the one here? stackoverflow.com/questions/60230113/… — Nick ODell
– Nick ODell, Commented Dec 2, 2022 at 3:14
That looks like a way to recursively parse a JSON, I'm looking to build a JSON based on recursively checking subfolders. Thanks! — richmake
– richmake, Commented Dec 2, 2022 at 13:20
An example input structure and expected output would be nice. What JSON are you trying to build? Why not use json.dumps()? — ggorlen
– ggorlen, Commented Dec 3, 2022 at 4:57
I've edited the question. It isn't the JSON piece that I'm struggling with, it's the loop to build the dictionary. How could I build a loop to append children/grandchildren/etc to a dictionary, without knowing the number of folders that have other folders inside of them? I'm looking to use a while loop instead of the 3 nested if statements I'm using in the code. I hope that helps explain my struggle. Thanks! — richmake
– richmake, Commented Dec 4, 2022 at 5:04
Something roughly like def walk(dir): return {'folder': dir, 'children': [walk(c) for c in dir.child if isinstance(c, Folder)]} — Gene
– Gene, Commented Dec 4, 2022 at 5:36

Gene · Accepted Answer · 2022-12-05 01:46:52Z

1

Something roughly like

def walk(dir):
  return {
    'folder': dir,
    'children': [walk(c) for c in dir.child if isinstance(c, Folder)]
  }

answered Dec 5, 2022 at 1:46

Gene

47.1k4 gold badges64 silver badges101 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Python - Recursive subfolder loop

1 Answer 1

Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related