Copy a file with a too long path to another directory in Python

Question

I am trying to copy files on Windows with Python 2.7, but sometimes this fails.

shutil.copyfile(copy_file, dest_file)

I get the following I

Answer 1

Maybe do something like this:

path = "some/really/really/long/path/more/than/255/chars.txt"

def copyFile(path, dest, relative=0):
    if len(path) > 255:
        if not os.sep in path:
            raise SomeException()
        moveTo, path = path.split(os.sep, 1)
        os.chdir(moveTo)
        copyFile(path, dest, relative + 1)
    else:
        path_base = ['..'] * relative
        path_rel = path_base + [dest]
        shutil.copyfile(path, os.path.join(*path_rel))

This is tested, and does work... however, if the destination is more than 255 chars, you would be back in the same boat. In that case, you may have to move the file several times.