How to modify a text file?

Question

I\'m using Python, and would like to insert a string into a text file without deleting or copying the file. How can I do that?

Answer 1

Rewriting a file in place is often done by saving the old copy with a modified name. Unix folks add a ~ to mark the old one. Windows folks do all kinds of things -- add .bak or .old -- or rename the file entirely or put the ~ on the front of the name.

import shutil
shutil.move( afile, afile+"~" )

destination= open( aFile, "w" )
source= open( aFile+"~", "r" )
for line in source:
    destination.write( line )
    if :
        destination.write( >some additional line> + "\n" )
source.close()
destination.close()

Instead of shutil, you can use the following.

import os
os.rename( aFile, aFile+"~" )