Question

I am complete newbie in Python and have to modify existing Python script. The script copies file to other path like following:

err=shutil.copyfile(src, dst)

This works unless dst contains character like &:

dst = "Y:\R&D\myfile.txt"

In this case I get windows error popup that says

Open file or Read file error
Y:\R

I tried to escape & using back slash, double back slash and wrapping the string with additional quotes: dst = "\"Y:\R&D\myfile.txt\"".
Nothing works in last case I get “invalid path” error message from shutil.

How can I solve this problem?

Answer 1

I doubt that ampersand is supported on most platforms. You will likely have to make a call to a windows specific program. I suggest robocopy since its really good at copying files. If it’s not included in your version of windows, you can find it in the windows server administrator toolkit for 2003.