Automate Your Daily File Management with Python: Copy, Rename, and Execute Macros!

Discover how to automate the process of copying yesterday's file, renaming it to today's date, and executing a macro using Python. Simplify your daily tasks now!
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This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/69168695/ asked by the user 'datoro' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/16902751/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/69169168/ provided by the user 'Sylvester Kruin - try Codidact' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/16775594/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

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Automate Your Daily File Management with Python: Copy, Rename, and Execute Macros!

Are you tired of manually copying yesterday's file, renaming it to today's date, and running a macro every morning? Imagine using Python to automate this mundane task! In this guide, we will walk through a Python solution that not only copies the most recent file from your folder but also renames it to include today's date and executes the required macro. Let’s dive in!

The Challenge

Every morning, you find yourself doing the same tedious tasks:

Copying the file from the previous day.

Renaming it to reflect today's date.

Refreshing a PowerQuery via a macro and saving the file.

While this might not seem complicated, the automating aspect can be daunting, especially if you're just starting to learn Python. You need a flexible solution that can automatically select the most recently modified file without changing the code every day. That's where Python comes in!

The Solution

We'll create a Python script that achieves the following goals:

Identify the most recently created file in the specified directory.

Copy that file and save it with today's date.

Execute the desired macro (note that the execution part will be outlined, but the specifics depend on your macro).

Step-by-Step Code Breakdown

Here's the complete code that will help us with our task:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Explanation of the Code

Let's break down what each part of the code does:

Import Libraries: We import the os, shutil, and time libraries. These libraries provide functionalities for file operations, copying files, and managing time, respectively.

Define Directory: We specify the directory where the files are saved using my_dir.

Create a File Dictionary:

We create an empty dictionary called files_dict.

We loop through each file in the directory, retrieving its creation time and full path.

This information is stored in the dictionary with the creation time as the key.

Find the Most Recent File:

The max() function retrieves the highest creation time from files_dict, indicating the most recently created file.

Copy and Rename the File:

Using shutil.copyfile, we copy the most recent file to the same directory, renaming it using the current date format ("%m.%d.%Y - Daily Item Record.xlsm"). This is dynamically generated using time.strftime().

Next Steps: Executing Your Macro

To execute the macro after copying your file, you might need a Python COM interface or a specific library that interacts with Excel files. Libraries such as pywin32 allow you to control Excel through Python. You can explore how to open the copied file and run VBA macros programmatically.

Conclusion

By establishing a simple Python script, you’ve automated a repetitive task that used to consume your mornings. Now, with a single execution, you can copy yesterday's file, watch it get renamed to today’s date, and prepare it for your workday ahead.

With the knowledge gained here, you're equipped to expand your Python skills further and streamline other time-consuming tasks!

Feel free to ask questions in the comments below or share your experiences with Python automation. Happy coding!