Can Python validate if a string represents a file or folder path, and if so, if that file or folder actually exists on-disk?

Question

New to Python and using v3. Trying to find any function that lets me test and validate a passed-in string to see if it represents a file or a folder, and if so, if that file/folder actually exists on disk. I don't need to do anything with that file or folder, just to check if it exists or not for some 'if' logic.

I have recently found the following imports...

import os  
import pathlib

and they look promising, but the examples I've found look like they're actually trying to open/load them, not simply check if they exist, and I haven't found anything to see if the string represents a valid format for a directory or file in the first place.

Answer 1

New to Python and using v3. Trying to find any function that lets me test and validate a passed-in string to see if it represents a file or a folder, and if so, if that file/folder actually exists on disk. I don't need to do anything with that file or folder, just to check if it exists or not for some 'if' logic.

I have recently found the following imports...

import os  
import pathlib

and they look promising, but the examples I've found look like they're actually trying to open/load them, not simply check if they exist, and I haven't found anything to see if the string represents a valid format for a directory or file in the first place.

Answer 2

New to Python and using v3. Trying to find any function that lets me test and validate a passed-in string to see if it represents a file or a folder, and if so, if that file/folder actually exists on disk. I don't need to do anything with that file or folder, just to check if it exists or not for some 'if' logic.

I have recently found the following imports...

import os  
import pathlib

and they look promising, but the examples I've found look like they're actually trying to open/load them, not simply check if they exist, and I haven't found anything to see if the string represents a valid format for a directory or file in the first place.