Binary files¶

A walker can skip binary files, like images, archives and documents. Mosey.ignore_binary_files adds patterns for the most common binary formats, like *.pdf and *.zip, and for .DS_Store.

For example, this walker skips every file whose name ends with .pdf or .PDF, .zip or .ZIP, and so on:

from mosey import Mosey

builder = Mosey()
builder.ignore_binary_files()
walker = builder.build()

Your program can read every pattern in BINARY_FILE_PATTERNS, and they're all listed below.

Rules¶

• Mosey judges each file by its name, never by what's inside it.
• Each extension matches in all-lowercase and all-uppercase, so *.jpg and *.JPG match photo.jpg and SCAN.JPG, but not Mixed.Jpg.
• A whole name, like .DS_Store, only matches in exactly that case.
• Mosey.ignore_binary_files adds every pattern exactly as Mosey.add_pattern would, at the point you call it, so they follow the rules for default and overriding patterns.
• The patterns weigh 0 unless you give them another weight, so an ignore-file can re-include a binary file. Give them a weight of 1 or more to overrule every ignore-file.

Example¶

Take a directory with these files, subdirectories and ignore-file:

root/
├── .walkignore
├── Mixed.Jpg
├── SCAN.PDF
├── archive.tar.gz
├── docs/
│   ├── logo.svg
│   └── manual.pdf
├── main.py
├── photos.zip/
│   └── list.txt
└── server

The .walkignore ignore-file holds this line:

!manual.pdf

A walker that reads that ignore-file, and ignores binary files:

builder = Mosey()
builder.set_ignore_filename(".walkignore")
builder.ignore_binary_files()
walker = builder.build()

...yields these files when it walks the root directory, in the usual walk order:

Mixed.Jpg
docs/logo.svg
docs/manual.pdf
main.py
server

Why?

Behaviour you might not expect¶

• Mosey never looks inside a file. A program named server is yielded, and a text file named notes.pdf is skipped.
• A directory named like a binary file is skipped too, like it would be by any pattern without a / at the end. Mosey never walks into a directory named photos.zip.
• The list is short on purpose. Add other formats yourself, like add_pattern("*.psd") and add_pattern("*.PSD").
• To re-include a format, re-include both casings. After ignore_binary_files(), at the same weight, add !*.pdf and !*.PDF, or !*.[Pp][Dd][Ff]. An ignore-file needs the same.
• Calling ignore_binary_files again adds the patterns again, so they overrule any ! patterns of the same weight that you added between the two calls.
• The patterns can change in any release, as formats are added. For a set that never changes, add your own copy of the patterns with add_pattern.

Formats¶

The patterns also match .DS_Store, the file that macOS's Finder writes into folders.