ZipFile don't overwrite compresed files at create

[piranna]

BPO	11415
Nosy	@terryjreedy, @amauryfa
Superseder	bpo-6818: remove/delete method for zipfile/tarfile objects

^{Note: these values reflect the state of the issue at the time it was migrated and might not reflect the current state.}

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GitHub fields:

assignee = None
closed_at = <Date 2011-03-19.05:07:47.432>
created_at = <Date 2011-03-06.18:24:12.786>
labels = ['type-bug', 'invalid']
title = "ZipFile don't overwrite compresed files at create"
updated_at = <Date 2011-03-19.05:07:47.430>
user = 'https://bugs.python.org/piranna'

bugs.python.org fields:

activity = <Date 2011-03-19.05:07:47.430>
actor = 'terry.reedy'
assignee = 'none'
closed = True
closed_date = <Date 2011-03-19.05:07:47.432>
closer = 'terry.reedy'
components = []
creation = <Date 2011-03-06.18:24:12.786>
creator = 'piranna'
dependencies = []
files = []
hgrepos = []
issue_num = 11415
keywords = []
message_count = 4.0
messages = ['130182', '130254', '130255', '131388']
nosy_count = 3.0
nosy_names = ['terry.reedy', 'amaury.forgeotdarc', 'piranna']
pr_nums = []
priority = 'normal'
resolution = 'not a bug'
stage = None
status = 'closed'
superseder = '6818'
type = 'behavior'
url = 'https://bugs.python.org/issue11415'
versions = []

[piranna]

I've created a new, compresed ZipFile in memory (using StringIO) and added several files to it with ZipFile.write(), later i've added a new file with the same name of one of the previous ones just to overwrite it with some dinamic data using ZipFile.writestr(), and finally i've closed the StringIO ZipFile and writen to the hard disk.

Secondly, i've opened it with FileRoller and found that the overwritten file is twice inside the ZipFile, the first and the second one, with different sizes and timestamp. Luckily, extracting one of them just get only the more recent one, but the fact is that the old one is already there and it's listed instead being overwritten with the last, new one, and i don't know if it's a bug (i think so) or just a feature.

[amauryfa]

Luckily, extracting one of them just get only the more recent one

It's not only luck: a Zip file has a "central directory" used to retrieve data. ZipFile just appends the new file data to the end of the Zip file, then write the updated directory structure.

Removing the old content is another matter, and is similar to bpo-6818.
This requires a whole copy of the zip file, and so far, no acceptable patch was proposed.

[piranna]

Ok, they talk about remove it, that's why i didn't found it :-P Ok, it make sense. By the way, this way the old data is available? How? (Just to know... it could be a courious feature :-D )

[terryjreedy]

2.6 is only open for security fixes.