python script output to be saved in different folder

Question

I'm trying to build a keyword tool. For this, I built a python script that when you run it, it outputs a CSV file with the keyword, the ranking, the URL and the date.

I want to run more than one keyword and I want to save the output in different folders.

I created 5 different folders with my python script and I created a bash file that runs the script with different keywords and outputs different CSV files.

The bash file looks like this:

#! /bin/bash

/usr/bin/python3 /kw1/rank.py [website] [keyword1] 
sleep 30
/usr/bin/python3 /kw2/rank.py [website] [keyword2] 
sleep 20
/usr/bin/python3 /kw3/rank.py [website] [keyword3] 
sleep 30
/usr/bin/python3 /kw4/rank.py [website] [keyword4] 
sleep 25
/usr/bin/python3 /kw5/rank.py [website] [keyword5]

The problem I am having is that when I run my bash file, all the CSV outputs are stored in the home folder, where the bash file is located and not on the specific folder where the python script.

I tried to add >> and location/output.csv or .txt but the output is in a .txt file or if its in CSV its in one column. Also, this is not my python output, it's only what the terminal outputs when running the python script.

The python code that saves my output to CSV looks like this

file = datetime.date.today().strftime("%d-%m-%Y")+'-' +keyword + '.csv'
with open(file, 'w+') as f:
    writer = csv.writer(f)
    writer.writerow(['Keyword' , 'Rank', 'URL' , 'Date'])
    writer.writerows(zip( d[0::4], d[1::4] , d[2::4], d[3::4]))

I would like to run my bash file on one folder but I want to get my script outputs in the specific folder the python script is located.

Thanks.

so, you're just giving a filename to the python code. Just give it a fullpath+filename instead? — Paritosh Singh, Jul 23 '19 at 19:04
But If i run 3 different parameters in the script, lets say kw1, kw2, kw3 they will all be saved in the full path im adding in the script. I want to separate each kw in specific folders — Sundios, Jul 23 '19 at 19:06
Because Im checking for Google rankings. If I run 10 keywords in a second, google will block my IP and this will not work. — Sundios, Jul 23 '19 at 19:40

S. Kwak · Answer 1 · 2019-07-23T19:40:07.437

2

Use an absolute path when opening file for writing...

import os.path

# PRETEND YOU 'example' folder under C:\
save_to_path = 'C://example//'
name_of_file = input("What is the name of the file: ")
complete_name = os.path.join(save_to_path, name_of_file+".txt")

with open(complete_name, 'w+') as f:
    f.write('Hi')

Now you have Hi.txt file in C:\example\

edited Jul 23 '19 at 19:40

answered Jul 23 '19 at 19:20

S. Kwak

126
5

Is there any way in selecting the output in the bash file? Ideally any body that will want to use this, will only edit the bash file and not each of the python files :/ – Sundios Jul 23 '19 at 20:26
I'm not quite sure this part "selecting the output in the bash file". Can you clarify? – S. Kwak Jul 23 '19 at 21:19

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 23 '19 at 19:16

1

The file you are opening does not contain a folder, it is just a filename:

file = datetime.date.today().strftime("%d-%m-%Y")+'-' +keyword + '.csv'

Therefore, Python interprets it as a relative path, meaning it adds the current PATH to its beginning.

You most likely run the program from /home/<user>/, therefore the file ends up in your home directory.

There are multiple ways to deal with that:

Give the output folder to the program as a command line argument
Hard-code an absolute path
Use a path relative to your script. Therefore you first need to find out the path of your script, like described here.

answered Jul 23 '19 at 19:16

Finomnis

2,199
1
7
12

I see. But if my python script is inside a folder, should the file be saved there? – Sundios Jul 23 '19 at 19:42
Also, ideally anybody that want to use this file would only have to edit the bash file and not every single python file. – Sundios Jul 23 '19 at 20:26
1

Then take option 1, give it to the script as a command line argument. For more info, read into [argparse](https://docs.python.org/3/howto/argparse.html). – Finomnis Jul 24 '19 at 13:27

python script output to be saved in different folder

2 Answers2