Working with zipped files is a common task in data analysis. In Python, you can easily handle such tasks using inbuilt libraries like the zipfile module. In this tutorial, we will learn how to unzip data in Python.
Prerequisites
To follow along with this tutorial, you should have Python installed on your machine and have a basic understanding of Python’s syntax and command line interface.
Step 1: Importing Required Library
First and foremost, we need to import the required library which is the zipfile module. This module is included in Python’s standard library, so you don’t need to install anything.
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import zipfile |
Step 2: Loading the Zip File
In this step, we will define the zip file we want to unzip. Replace ‘file.zip’ with the path to your zip file.
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file = 'file.zip' |
Step 3: Creating ZipFile Object
In this step, we create a ZipFile object which represents the zip file.
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zip_file = zipfile.ZipFile(file, 'r') |
Step 4: Extracting the Zip File
Now, we are ready to extract all the files in the zip file. We can do this by calling the extractall() method. Pass the path where you want to unzip the files to this method.
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zip_file.extractall("target-dir") |
Step 5: Closing the Zip File
Finally, we must close the zip file using the close() method.
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zip_file.close() |
Full Code
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import zipfile file = 'file.zip' zip_file = zipfile.ZipFile(file, 'r') zip_file.extractall("target-dir") zip_file.close() |
Conclusion
By following along with this tutorial, you should now be able to unzip files using Python. It’s a simple process with the help of Python’s zipfile module. Data extraction is a key part of data analysis and data preprocessing. The ability to programmatically unzip files helps increase the level of automation in your data processing pipeline, reducing the amount of manual effort involved.