Directory Tree Visualizer
This utility visualizes the file structure of a directory in a tree-like format directly in the terminal. It demonstrates recursion and file system traversal using the modern pathlib module.
Modules Used:
- pathlib: To traverse directories and handle paths object-orientedly.
- argparse: To handle the input directory argument.
The Code
Save this as tree.py.
import argparse
from pathlib import Path
def print_tree(directory, prefix=""):
path = Path(directory)
# Get all items in directory
try:
# Sort items: directories first, then files, both alphabetically
items = sorted(list(path.iterdir()), key=lambda x: (not x.is_dir(), x.name.lower()))
except PermissionError:
print(f"{prefix}[Access Denied]")
return
# Tree connectors
space = " "
branch = "│ "
tee = "├── "
last = "└── "
count = len(items)
for i, item in enumerate(items):
is_last = (i == count - 1)
connector = last if is_last else tee
print(f"{prefix}{connector}{item.name}")
if item.is_dir():
extension = space if is_last else branch
print_tree(item, prefix + extension)
if __name__ == "__main__":
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Directory Tree Visualizer")
parser.add_argument("directory", nargs="?", default=".", help="Directory to visualize (default: current)")
args = parser.parse_args()
root = Path(args.directory)
if not root.exists():
print(f"Error: {root} does not exist.")
else:
print(root.resolve().name or str(root.resolve()))
print_tree(root)Usage
python tree.py ./my_project