Zipped files have extra unwanted folders

Question

I have been having an issue with using the zipfile.Zipfile() function. It zips my files properly, but then has extra folders that I do not want in the output zip file. It does put all my desired files in the .zip but it seems to add the last few directories from the files being written in the .zip file by default. Is there any way to exclude these folders? Here is my code:

import arcpy, os
from os import path as p
import zipfile
arcpy.overwriteOutput = True


def ZipShapes(path, out_path):
    arcpy.env.workspace = path
    shapes = arcpy.ListFeatureClasses()

    # iterate through list of shapefiles
    for shape in shapes:
        name = p.splitext(shape)[0]
        print name
        zip_path = p.join(out_path, name + '.zip')
        zip = zipfile.ZipFile(zip_path, 'w')
        zip.write(p.join(path,shape))
        for f in arcpy.ListFiles('%s*' %name):
            if not f.endswith('.shp'):
                zip.write(p.join(path,f))
        print 'All files written to %s' %zip_path
        zip.close()

if __name__ == '__main__':

    path = r'C:\Shape_test\Census_CedarCo'
    out_path = r'C:\Shape_outputs'

    ZipShapes(path, out_path)

I tried to post some pictures but I do not have enough reputation points. Basically it is adding 2 extra folders (empty) inside the zip file. So instead of the files being inside the zip like this:

C:\Shape_outputs\Public_Buildings.zip\Public_Buildings.shp

They are showing up like this:

C:\Shape_outputs\Public_Buildings.zip\Shape_test\Census_CedarCo\Public_Buildings.shp

The "Shape_test" and "Census_CedarCo" folders are the directories that the shapefiles I am trying to copy come from, but if I am just writing these files why are the sub directories also being copied into the zip file? I suppose it is not a huge deal since I am getting the files zipped, but it is more of an annoyance than anything.

I assumed that when creating a zip file it would just write the files I specify themselves. Why does it add these extra directories inside the zip file? Is there a way around it? Am I missing something here? I appreciate any input! Thanks

Answer 1

The optional second parameter in ZipFile.write(filename[, arcname[, compress_type]]) is that name used in the archive file. You can strip the offending folders from the front of the path and use the remainder for the archive path name. I'm not sure exactly how arcpy gives you the paths, but something like zip.write(p.join(path,shape), shape) should do it.