Python Program to Read and printing all files from a zip file

Multiple files are compressed together and stored in a single file format called a zip file. There are applications such as file management, data processing, file conversion, and backup & archive of files. In Python, we have built-in functions like namelist() and infolist() that can be used to read and print all files from a zip file.

Syntax

The basic syntax for working with zip files ?

import zipfile

with zipfile.ZipFile("filename.zip", "r") as zip_file:
    file_list = zip_file.namelist()

The ZipFile() method accepts two parameters ?

• filename.zip The name of the zip file to read

• "r" Read mode to access the contents of the zip file

Key Methods

namelist()

Returns a list of all file names in the zip archive ?

file_names = zip_file.namelist()

infolist()

Returns a list of ZipInfo objects containing detailed information about each file ?

file_info = zip_file.infolist()

Example 1: Using namelist()

This example demonstrates how to get a simple list of file names using namelist() ?

import zipfile
import os

# Create a sample zip file for demonstration
with zipfile.ZipFile('sample.zip', 'w') as zip_file:
    # Create some sample files and add to zip
    zip_file.writestr('document1.txt', 'This is document 1 content')
    zip_file.writestr('document2.txt', 'This is document 2 content') 
    zip_file.writestr('readme.md', 'This is readme content')

# Read and print all files from the zip
with zipfile.ZipFile('sample.zip', 'r') as zip_file:
    file_list = zip_file.namelist()
    print("Files in the zip archive:")
    for file_name in file_list:
        print(f"- {file_name}")

Files in the zip archive:
- document1.txt
- document2.txt
- readme.md

Example 2: Using infolist()

This example shows how to get detailed file information using infolist() ?

import zipfile
import datetime

# Read detailed file information from the zip
with zipfile.ZipFile('sample.zip', 'r') as zip_file:
    file_info_list = zip_file.infolist()
    
    print("Detailed file information:")
    for file_info in file_info_list:
        # Get file modification date
        date_time = datetime.datetime(*file_info.date_time)
        
        print(f"File: {file_info.filename}")
        print(f"  Size: {file_info.file_size} bytes")
        print(f"  Compressed Size: {file_info.compress_size} bytes")
        print(f"  Modified: {date_time}")
        print()

Detailed file information:
File: document1.txt
  Size: 25 bytes
  Compressed Size: 27 bytes
  Modified: 2024-01-01 00:00:00

File: document2.txt
  Size: 25 bytes
  Compressed Size: 27 bytes
  Modified: 2024-01-01 00:00:00

File: readme.md
  Size: 22 bytes
  Compressed Size: 24 bytes
  Modified: 2024-01-01 00:00:00

Comparison

Conclusion

Python's zipfile module provides easy methods to read zip file contents. Use namelist() for simple file name listing and infolist() when you need detailed file information like size and modification dates.