Single python function for generating ASCII trees

ascii_tree.py

data = [
    'Desktop',
    ('Downloads', [
        'ubuntu.iso',
        'abc.txt',
        ('photos', [
            '001.jpg',
            '002.jpg'
        ])
    ])
]


def ascii_tree(tree, indent: int = 0) -> str:
    tree_str = ''

    def add_to_tree_str(x):
        nonlocal tree_str
        tree_str += f"{indent * '│  '}├─ {x}\n"

    if isinstance(tree, tuple):
        add_to_tree_str(tree[0])
        tree_str += ascii_tree(tree[1], indent + 1)
    elif isinstance(tree, list):
        for item in tree:
            tree_str += ascii_tree(item, indent)
    else:
        add_to_tree_str(tree)
    return tree_str


print(ascii_tree(data))

output.txt

├─ Desktop
├─ Downloads
│  ├─ ubuntu.iso
│  ├─ abc.txt
│  ├─ photos
│  │  ├─ 001.jpg
│  │  ├─ 002.jpg