Reversing File Content - Python Programming Exercise

In this exercise, you will develop a Python program to "invert" a file. This exercise is perfect for practicing file handling, byte manipulation, and loops in Python. By implementing this program, you will gain hands-on experience in handling file operations, byte manipulation, and loops in Python. This exercise not only reinforces your understanding of file handling but also helps you develop efficient coding practices for managing user interactions.

 Category

Managing Files

 Exercise

Reversing File Content

 Objective

Develop a Python program to "invert" a file: create a new file with the same name but ending in ".inv" and store the bytes from the original file in reverse order. In the resulting file, the first byte will become the last, the second byte will become the second-to-last, and so on. The final byte in the original file should appear first in the new file.

You will only need to submit the Python file, with a comment including your name.

Hint: To determine the length of a binary file (using `BinaryReader`), you can check the file's length using `myFile.BaseStream.Length`. Additionally, to move to a different position in the file, you can use `myFile.BaseStream.Seek(4, SeekOrigin.Current)`.

The position options available for seeking are: `SeekOrigin.Begin`, `SeekOrigin.Current`, or `SeekOrigin.End`.

 Example Python Exercise

 Copy Python Code
# This program reads a file, reverses the byte order, and writes the reversed content into a new file with ".inv" extension.

def invert_file(input_filename):
    try:
        # Open the input file in binary read mode
        with open(input_filename, 'rb') as infile:
            # Read the entire content of the file
            content = infile.read()
        
        # Reverse the byte order of the content
        reversed_content = content[::-1]
        
        # Create the new file name by adding ".inv" extension
        output_filename = input_filename + ".inv"
        
        # Open the output file in binary write mode
        with open(output_filename, 'wb') as outfile:
            # Write the reversed content to the new file
            outfile.write(reversed_content)
        
        print(f"File has been successfully inverted and saved as {output_filename}.")
    except FileNotFoundError:
        print(f"The file {input_filename} does not exist.")
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"An error occurred: {e}")

# Example usage
input_file = "example.txt"  # Replace with your input file name

invert_file(input_file)

 Output

If the example.txt file contains:

Hello, this is a test file!

After running the program, the example.txt.inv file will contain:

!elfi tset a si siht ,olleH

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