Open Python file only works with Windows folders in English

Question

I have a Python program that asks the user for a file path and shows the contents of the file on the screen. The problem is that the code only works when I put the names of Windows folders in English.

For example:

>>> print(open('C:\\Usuários\\usuario\\Documentos\\Gamepobre.txt').read())

returns an error:

FileNotFoundError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'C:\\Usuários\\usuario\\Documentos\\Gamepobre.txt'

But if I trade Users and Documents for Users and Documents:

>>> print(open('C:\\Users\\usuario\\Documents\\Gamepobre.txt').read())

It shows the contents on the screen as expected.

How will the program use user input, is there any way to convert the path in Portuguese to the English equivalent and avoid this error? I searched but I didn’t find anything that mentions it on the Internet.

I’m sorry if this is incredibly obvious. I’m just getting started. I’m also using Pycharm, if it helps.

Answer 1

The problem is that the correct, true names of the folders you mentioned are the same English names, Users and Documents.

What happens is that there is a viewing hook set in the hidden files desktop.ini:

[.ShellClassInfo]
LocalizedResourceName=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-21770
IconResource=%SystemRoot%\system32\imageres.dll,-112
IconFile=%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll
IconIndex=-235

That line LocalizedResourceName calls a function in the shell32.dll exactly at the time of displaying the folder name. This function creates the illusion of a translated name.

That is, in windows explorer and derivatives, an illusory name will be displayed, different from the real name that the folder has. That’s just an illusion and it’s not the real name of the folder.

The most direct way to solve the problem is to use a graphical interface based on windows explorer for the user to select the folder. For example:

from tkinter import filedialog as dlg
path = dlg.askopenfilename()

The above code will display a graphical window for the user to select a file graphically. As this window will use windows explorer internally, the names will appear translated. Even if the user selects the folder Documentos, the function will return Documents, that is, the translation takes place automatically.

Answer 2

To get the folder path user in Windows or user in Unix/Linux use the path manipulation function expanduser (https://docs.os.path.html#os.path.expanduser) replacing the ~ by the user folder path.

from os.path import expanduser
print(open(expanduser("~\\Documentos\\Gamepobre.txt").read())