python - Cross platform hidden file detection

Question

What is the best way to do cross-platform handling of hidden files? (preferably in Python, but other solutions still appreciated)

Simply checking for a leading '.' works for *nix/Mac, and file attributes work on Windows. However, this seems a little simplistic, and also doesn't account for alternative methods of hiding things (.hidden files, etc.). Is there a standard way to deal with this?

Answer 1

Here's a script that runs on Python 2.5+ and should do what you're looking for:

import ctypes
import os

def is_hidden(filepath):
    name = os.path.basename(os.path.abspath(filepath))
    return name.startswith('.') or has_hidden_attribute(filepath)

def has_hidden_attribute(filepath):
    try:
        attrs = ctypes.windll.kernel32.GetFileAttributesW(unicode(filepath))
        assert attrs != -1
        result = bool(attrs & 2)
    except (AttributeError, AssertionError):
        result = False
    return result

I added something similar to has_hidden_attribute to jaraco.windows. If you have jaraco.windows >= 2.3:

from jaraco.windows import filesystem

def has_hidden_attribute(filepath):
    return filesystem.GetFileAttributes(filepath).hidden

As Ben has pointed out, on Python 3.5, you can use the stdlib:

import os, stat

def has_hidden_attribute(filepath):
    return bool(os.stat(filepath).st_file_attributes & stat.FILE_ATTRIBUTE_HIDDEN)

Though you may still want to use jaraco.windows for the more Pythonic API.