pathcount.py

import os # For file/folder operations
import sys # For handling arguments

def pathcount(filename):
    current_dir = os.getcwd() # Get the current working directory 
    full_path = os.path.join(current_dir, filename) # Combine the directory and file name to form the full path
    character_count = len(full_path) # Calculate the number of characters in the full path
    
    # Check if the character count exceeds the Windows limit
    if character_count >= 255:
        raise ValueError(character_count) # Pass the character count to the error handler
    
    return character_count

if __name__ == "__main__":
    # Check if a filename is provided as an argument
    if len(sys.argv) != 2:
        print("Usage: python3 pathcount.py <filename>")
        sys.exit(1)

    # Get the filename from command-line arguments
    filename = sys.argv[1]
    try:
        character_count = pathcount(filename)
        print(f"The number of characters in the file path is: {character_count}")
    except ValueError as e: # The file path is too long
        character_count = e.args[0] # Receive the character count from the pathcount function
        print(f"The length of this file path is {character_count} characters and must be at least {character_count - 255} characters shorter.") # Prints error message
        sys.exit(1)