Getting error "Process cannot access file" while deleting file in Python

Question

I am working on a project where I have many json files stored in a directory. I need to read all the files and check there data. If 'sessionisfalse` in any of the files, I need to delete the file. Below is the code:

files = os.listdir(config_files_path)
for file in files:
 file_path = config_files_path + '//' + file
 f = open(file_path)
 data = json.load(f)
 if not data['session']:
 # delete this file
 os.remove(file_path)

In the above code, I am getting the list of all the files. Then iterating over each file and reading its content in data. if not data['session'], I need to delete that file. But doing so I am getting process cannot access the file as its being used by another process. Is there any way we can delete the file. Please help. Thanks

Answer 1

You need to close the file before deleting it. Use f.close() before os.remove(file_path) statement

Answer 2

The error is raised because the file is still open. You must close it before trying to delete it. So, after you have loaded the data, do f.close(). Like this:

files = os.listdir(config_files_path)
for file in files:
 file_path = config_files_path + '//' + file
 f = open(file_path)
 data = json.load(f)
 f.close() # <-- close the file
 if not data['session']:
 # delete this file
 os.remove(file_path)