Automate creation of zip folders by category

To automate the creation of zip folders by category, you can write a script using Python, which is well-suited for file manipulation tasks like this. Below is an example Python script that automates the creation of zip files from files categorized into folders. This script will organize the files into zip folders based on categories (i.e., subfolders in the main directory), and then compress each folder into a separate zip file.

Prerequisites

• Python 3.x installed.

• Files categorized into subfolders (e.g., in a data directory).

Steps for the Automation:

1. Directory Structure: Have a directory where files are organized into subfolders (each folder representing a category).

2. Python Script: This script will loop through each category folder, compress the files, and create a zip archive for each.

Python Code:

python
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import os
import zipfile

def create_zip_from_folder(folder_path, zip_name):
    """
    Create a zip file from the folder at the given path.
    """
    with zipfile.ZipFile(zip_name, 'w', zipfile.ZIP_DEFLATED) as zipf:
        # Walk through the folder and add all files to the zip file
        for root, dirs, files in os.walk(folder_path):
            for file in files:
                # Add each file to the zip archive
                zipf.write(os.path.join(root, file), os.path.relpath(os.path.join(root, file), folder_path))

def automate_zipping(base_directory):
    """
    Automate the zipping of subfolders in a base directory.
    """
    for category in os.listdir(base_directory):
        category_path = os.path.join(base_directory, category)
        
        # Check if the path is a directory (category)
        if os.path.isdir(category_path):
            zip_filename = f"{category}.zip"  # Create a zip file with the category name
            zip_filepath = os.path.join(base_directory, zip_filename)
            
            # Create the zip file
            create_zip_from_folder(category_path, zip_filepath)
            print(f"Created zip file: {zip_filepath}")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    # Specify the base directory where the category folders are located
    base_directory = "/path/to/your/directory"  # Change this to your directory path

    automate_zipping(base_directory)

Breakdown of the Script:

1. create_zip_from_folder(): This function creates a zip file from all the files inside a specified folder.

2. automate_zipping(): This function loops through each subfolder (representing a category) in the given directory and calls create_zip_from_folder() to zip each subfolder individually.

3. main(): The script starts by specifying the base_directory and then calls automate_zipping().

How to Use:

1. Organize your files: Make sure that the files you want to zip are organized into subfolders within a single directory.

2. Update the path: Replace "/path/to/your/directory" with the actual path to your base directory.

3. Run the script: After running the script, it will create zip files for each category folder in the specified directory.

Example:

Suppose you have the following structure in your base_directory:

bash
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/base_directory
    /category1
        file1.txt
        file2.txt
    /category2
        image1.png
        image2.png
    /category3
        document1.pdf
        document2.pdf

After running the script, it will create zip files:

• category1.zip containing the files from /category1.

• category2.zip containing the files from /category2.

• category3.zip containing the files from /category3.

This approach helps in organizing your files into zip folders based on their categories automatically, saving time and ensuring efficiency.