Explanation

Here is a simple code that I wrote years ago to organize easily several files in subdirectories according to their names (using regular expressions). Sorry for the mistakes I could have made... I hope you find it useful.

Code

#!/usr/bin/env python
# -*- coding: utf-8  -*-

# Created by por Noelia Sales Montes

# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
# the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
# Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or any later version.

# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
# ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS
# FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License for more
# details.

# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with
# this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.

# Contact:  
#            noelia.salesmontes@gmail.com

"""
Python script that organizes the working directory files according to their
name.

CORRECT USAGE: python organize.py [-v] [-h|-s|-f]
  * -v -> enable verbose mode
  * -h o --help
  * -s o --secure -> copy files
  * -f o --force -> force the movement of files
                    If file already exists, it is deleted
"""

import sys
import os
import shutil
import getopt
import glob

# Regular expressions of files to process
__exreg__ = ['*.mp3', '*.hs', '*.py']
# Directories for each of the above files
__dirs__ = ['/home/nessa/Music', '/home/nessa/Haskell', '/home/nessa/Python']
# Options
__verbose__ = False
__secure__ = False
__force__ = False

def usage():
    """
    Print usage
    """
    print "USAGE: python organize.py [-v] [-h|-s|-f]"

def organize():
    """
    Main function which classifies files according to the regular expressions
    """
    indice = 0
    for exp in __exreg__:
        if __verbose__ == True:
            print "Regular expression: %s" % exp

        # Find files that match with the regular expression
        for __f in glob.glob(exp):
            move(__f, indice)
        indice += 1


def move(__f, __ind):
    """
    Files movement
    """
    # Ensures the directory exists
    if not os.path.exists(__dirs__[__ind]):
        if __verbose__ == True:
            print "Creating %s" % __dirs__[__ind]
        os.makedirs(__dirs__[__ind])

    if __verbose__ == True:
        print "%s => %s" % (__f, __dirs__[__ind])

    # Copy (__secure__ mode) or move
    try:
        if __secure__ == True:                
            shutil.copy(__f, __dirs__[__ind])
        else:
            shutil.move(__f, __dirs__[__ind])
    except shutil.Error:
        # If there is any problem, move is forced
        if __force__ == True:
            try:
                os.remove(os.path.join(__dirs__[__ind], __f))
                print os.path.join(__dirs__[__ind], __f)
                if __secure__ == True:
                    shutil.copy(__f, __dirs__[__ind])
                else:
                    shutil.move(__f, __dirs__[__ind])
            except shutil.Error:
                print "%s wasn't moved" % __f
        else:
            print "%s wasn't moved'" % __f


if __name__ == "__main__":
    try:
        __opts__, __args__ = getopt.getopt(sys.argv[1:],
                                           'shvf', ["secure", "help",
                                                    "__force__"])
    except getopt.GetoptError, __err:
        # Print error and help
        print str(__err)
        usage()
        sys.exit(2)

    # Identify options
    for o, a in __opts__:
        if o == "-v":
            __verbose__ = True
        elif o in ("-h", "--help"):
            usage()
            sys.exit()
        elif o in ("-s", "--secure"):
            __secure__ = True
        elif o in ("-f", "--__force__"):
            __force__ = True
        else:
            assert False, "Unsupported option"

    organize()