Python OSError while attempting os.mkdir

Question

import os
directory=input("Directory: ")
if not os.path.exists(directory):
    os.mkdir(directory)
    os.mkdir(str(directory)+'\steamCMD')
    os.mkdir(str(directory)+'\temporary')

A snippet from my code. Returns OSError on the last line shown here. Why? Does exactly same thing as 5th line yet 5th line works like a charm. Error:

    os.mkdir(str(directory)+'\temporary')
OSError: [WinError 123] The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax     is incorrect: 'c:\\testing\temporary'

Similar: Python - os.rename() - OSError: [WinError 123] os.mkdir(path) returns OSError when directory does not exist However he had different mistake to me. Anyone tell me why this is happen?

score 2 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 10:28

2

Try:

os.mkdir(str(directory) + '\\temporary')

Or

os.mkdir(str(directory) + r'\temporary')

About the two \\ or r'\temporary', here is the documentation and here is a good question.

Also, os.path.join() is a good choice because which uses \\ on Windows but / on *nix. For example:

os.mkdir(os.path.join(directory), 'temporary')

This gives directory\temporary on Windows and directory/temporary on *nix. It is a more clear and simple way.

edited May 23 '17 at 10:28

Community

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answered Nov 05 '15 at 05:42

Casimir Crystal

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Also, it's a good idea to use `os.path.join` to build the path, rather than just adding a literal backslash (Windows) or slash (Unix/Linux): `os.mkdir(os.path.join(directory), 'temporary')`. (It's still good to remember raw strings since you will want them with the `re` module, for instance.) – torek Nov 05 '15 at 06:13

Python OSError while attempting os.mkdir

1 Answers1