Python: open() function

Last update on August 19 2022 21:50:45 (UTC/GMT +8 hours)

open() function

The open() function is used to open a file and returns it as a file object.

Version:

(Python 3.2.5)

Syntax:

open(file, mode='r', buffering=-1, encoding=None, errors=None, newline=None, closefd=True, opener=None)

Parameter:

Name

Description

Required /
Optional

file

path-like object (representing a file system path) giving the pathname.

Required

mode

Character	Meaning
'r'	open for reading (default)
'w'	open for writing, truncating the file first
'x'	open for exclusive creation, failing if the file already exists
'a'	open for writing, appending to the end of the file if it exists
'b'	binary mode
't'	text mode (default)
'+'	open a disk file for updating (reading and writing)
'U'	universal newlines mode (deprecated)

Optional

buffering

Set buffering policy.

Optional

encoding

Encode or decode the file.

Optional

error

String specifying how to handle encoding/decoding errors.

Optional

newline

how newlines mode works (available values: None, ' ', '\n', 'r', and '\r\n'.

Optional

closefd

True. If a file descriptor is given, it is closed when the returned I/O object is closed, unless closefd is set to False.

Optional

opener

A custom opener can be used by passing a callable as opener.

Optional

Return value:

Returns a file object which can used to read, write and modify file.

Example: Python open() function

# opens example.text file of the current directory
x = open("example.txt")
print(open("example.txt"))

Create file: example.txt

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
	How I wonder what you are! 
		Up above the world so high,   		
		Like a diamond in the sky. 
Twinkle, twinkle, little star, 
	How I wonder what you are!

Output:

<_io.TextIOWrapper name='example.txt' mode='r' encoding='UTF-8'>

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