Guardrail for MCNP_Problem.write_to_file()

[tjlaboss]

New function signature:

def write_to_file(self, new_problem, overwrite=False):
    """
    :param overwrite: Whether to overwrite the file at 'new_problem' if it exists
    :type overwrite: bool
    """
    . . .

Describe the solution you'd like
Check for the existence of the file new_problem, and do not overwrite it unless overwrite=True.

One solution: simply raise an error.

if overwrite or not os.path.exists(new_problem):
    # write the file as normal
    return
elif os.path.isfile(new_problem):
    raise FileExistsError(new_problem)
elif os.path.isdir(new_problem):
    raise IsDirectoryError(new_problem):
. . .

Describe alternatives you've considered
Or, if the file exists and overwrite == False, back up the original file with some sort of identifier, and then write to the requested filename.

UUID:

def get_backup_fname(new_problem):
    base_name, extension = os.path.splitext(new_problem)
    unique_id = uuid.uuid4()
    new_fname = f"{base_name}_backup_{unique_id}{extension}"
    return new_fname

Timestamp:

def get_next_backup_fname(new_problem):
    base_name, extension = os.path.splitext(new_problem)
    timestamp = int(time.time())   # OR use strftime('%Y%m%d%H%M%S') for human-readable
    new_fname = f"{base_name}_backup_{timestamp}{extension}"

    # If user going faster than one file per second
    index = 1
    while os.path.exists(new_file):
        new_file = f"{base_name}_backup_{timestamp}_{index}{extension}"
        index += 1

    return new_fname

Additional context
Related to pyOpenSci review here: pyOpenSci/software-submission#205 (comment)

[MicahGale]

Ok I see value in this. I think I'd prefer to just error out rather than creating new files that user wasn't expecting.