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So I made a file editing program in python... and one of the functions isn't working right

As the title says, I made a file editing program with python.
Here is the code that I'm have a problem with:
#fileEditing.py
def fileError(file):
raise OSError("file {} does not exist".format(file))
class AccessFile():
def fileExists(self, file):
import os
return bool(os.path.exists(file))
def filecreate(self, file):
if not self.fileExists(file):
with open(file, "w") as f:
f.close()
else: raise OSError("file {} already exists".format(file))
def filedelete(self, file):
import os
if self.fileExists(file):
os.remove(file)
else: fileError(file)
def fileread(self, file):
#check if file exists
if self.fileExists(file):
#detect length of file
with open(file, "r") as f:
line = " "
x = 0
while line != "":
line = f.readline()
x += 1
#piece lines together in a list
filelines = []
with open(file, "r") as f:
for i in range(x - 1):
filelines.append(str(f.readline()))
#return a tuple
return tuple(filelines)
else: fileError(file)
def filewrite(self, file, line, text):
''' BUG: apparently this either overwrites the line its writing or appends
to the line its writing... make up your mind!'''
if self.fileExists(file):
#get file contents
filelines = list(self.fileread(file))
#see if line parameter is out of range or not
try:
filelines[line] = text
except IndexError:
for i in range(line - len(filelines)):
filelines.append("")
filelines.append(str(text) + "\n")
#apply changes
with open(file, "w") as f:
f.write("") #delete contents
with open(file, "w") as f:
for l in filelines:
f.write(l)
else: fileError(file)
def fileoverwrite(self, file, data):
#if there is no file to delete, it will make a new one
try:
self.filedelete(file)
except:
pass
self.filecreate(file)
x = 0
for line in data:
print(line)
self.filewrite(file, x, line)
x += 1
accessfile = AccessFile()
The bug is in the filewrite(self, file, line, text) function. When called, it either writes a new line (which is what I want it to do), appends to the line its supposed to replace, or just doesn't write any lines at all.
Say I want to write a python file with this program:
#pytesting.py
from fileEditing import *
file = "/Users/ashton/Desktop/Atom/Python/FileEditing/FileManager.py"
data = [
"from fileEditing import *",
"",
"class FileEditing():",
" def __init__(options, immutable_files):",
" self.options, self.immutable_files = options, immutable_files",
" ",
" def prompt():",
" ",
"",
"while True:",
" pass"
]
accessfile.fileoverwrite(file, data)
When I run it, it makes a file with accessfile.fileoverwrite(file, data), like its supposed to.
But thats where things get whacky.
(FileManager.py below)
from fileEditing import *
class FileEditing():
def __init__(options, immutable_files): self.options, self.immutable_files = options, immutable_files
def prompt():
while True:
If you know how to fix the filewrite(self, file, line, text), please let me know.
(I use python 2.7 but python 3 is fine)

So this is definitely a Python 3.x solution but you said that it is fine, don't know if it will work in Python 2.x but it is so simple it should:
def file_overwrite(self, file, data):
with open(file, 'w') as file:
file.write('\n'.join(data))
And you seemingly also need to fix that data list because it is missing a few commas. Also the fact that this is all in a class is a bit weird, you do nothing with the instance, they all might as well be separate functions or #classmethods or #staticmethods. Also several things could be improved with your other functions. For example you shouldn't open the file twice and count its lines to read it. Just do file.readlines() at it will return a list of all lines:
def fileread(self, file):
if self.fileExists(file):
with open(file) as file:
return file.readlines()
else:
fileError(file)
Then also import os once at the start of the file, you don't need to import it in every function where you use os, also:
with open(file, "w") as f:
f.close()
f.close() is completely pointless because the context manger closes the file anyways and also there is mode "x" which is specifically made for file creation and will raise an error if the file already exists: https://www.w3schools.com/python/python_file_handling.asp

Save file without first and last double quotes

I am trying to save my data to a file. My problem is the file i saved contains double quotes at the first and the last of a line. I have tried many ways to solve it from str.replace(), strip, csv to json, pickle. However, the problem has been still persistent. I have got stuck with it. Please help me. I will detail my problem below.
Firstly, I have a file called angles.txt like that:
{'left_w0': -2.6978887076110842, 'left_w1': -1.3257428944152834, 'left_w2': -1.7533400385498048, 'left_e0': 0.03566505327758789, 'left_e1': 0.6948932961 181641, 'left_s0': -1.1665923878540039, 'left_s1': -0.6726505747192383}
{'left_w0': -2.6967382220214846, 'left_w1': -0.8440729275695802, 'left_w2': -1.7541070289428713, 'left_e0': 0.036048548474121096, 'left_e1': 0.166820410 49194338, 'left_s0': -0.7731263162109375, 'left_s1': -0.7056311616210938}
I read line by line from the text file and transfer to a dict variable called data. Here is the reading file code:
def read_data_from_file(file_name):
data = dict()
f = open(file_name, 'r')
for index_line in range(1, number_lines +1):
data[index_line] = eval(f.readline())
f.close()
return data
Then I changed something in the data. Something like data[index_line]['left_w0'] = data[index_line]['left_w0'] + 0.0006. After that I wrote my data into another text file. Here is the code:
def write_data_to_file(data, file_name)
f = open(file_name, 'wb')
data_convert = dict()
for index_line in range(1, number_lines):
data_convert[index_line] = repr(data[index_line])
data_convert[index_line] = data_convert[index_line].replace('"','') # I also used strip
json.dump(data_convert[index_line], f)
f.write('\n')
f.close()
The result I received in the new file is:
"{'left_w0': -2.6978887076110842, 'left_w1': -1.3257428944152834, 'left_w2': -1.7533400385498048, 'left_e0': 0.03566505327758789, 'left_e1': 0.6948932961 181641, 'left_s0': -1.1665923878540039, 'left_s1': -0.6726505747192383}"
"{'left_w0': -2.6967382220214846, 'left_w1': -0.8440729275695802, 'left_w2': -1.7541070289428713, 'left_e0': 0.036048548474121096, 'left_e1': 0.166820410 49194338, 'left_s0': -0.7731263162109375, 'left_s1': -0.7056311616210938}"
I cannot remove "".

You could simplify your code by removing unnecessary transformations:
import json
def write_data_to_file(data, filename):
with open(filename, 'w') as file:
json.dump(data, file)
def read_data_from_file(filename):
with open(filename) as file:
return json.load(file)

How to Open a file through python

I am very new to programming and the python language.
I know how to open a file in python, but the question is how can I open the file as a parameter of a function?
example:
function(parameter)
Here is how I have written out the code:
def function(file):
with open('file.txt', 'r') as f:
contents = f.readlines()
lines = []
for line in f:
lines.append(line)
print(contents)

You can easily pass the file object.
with open('file.txt', 'r') as f: #open the file
contents = function(f) #put the lines to a variable.
and in your function, return the list of lines
def function(file):
lines = []
for line in f:
lines.append(line)
return lines
Another trick, python file objects actually have a method to read the lines of the file. Like this:
with open('file.txt', 'r') as f: #open the file
contents = f.readlines() #put the lines to a variable (list).
With the second method, readlines is like your function. You don't have to call it again.
Update
Here is how you should write your code:
First method:
def function(file):
lines = []
for line in f:
lines.append(line)
return lines
with open('file.txt', 'r') as f: #open the file
contents = function(f) #put the lines to a variable (list).
print(contents)
Second one:
with open('file.txt', 'r') as f: #open the file
contents = f.readlines() #put the lines to a variable (list).
print(contents)
Hope this helps!

Python allows to put multiple open() statements in a single with. You comma-separate them. Your code would then be:
def filter(txt, oldfile, newfile):
'''\
Read a list of names from a file line by line into an output file.
If a line begins with a particular name, insert a string of text
after the name before appending the line to the output file.
'''
with open(newfile, 'w') as outfile, open(oldfile, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as infile:
for line in infile:
if line.startswith(txt):
line = line[0:len(txt)] + ' - Truly a great person!\n'
outfile.write(line)
# input the name you want to check against
text = input('Please enter the name of a great person: ')
letsgo = filter(text,'Spanish', 'Spanish2')
And no, you don't gain anything by putting an explicit return at the end of your function. You can use return to exit early, but you had it at the end, and the function will exit without it. (Of course with functions that return a value, you use the return to specify the value to return.)

def fun(file):
contents = None
with open(file, 'r') as fp:
contents = fp.readlines()
## if you want to eliminate all blank lines uncomment the next line
#contents = [line for line in ''.join(contents).splitlines() if line]
return contents
print fun('test_file.txt')
or you can even modify this, such a way it takes file object as a function arguement as well

Here's a much simpler way of opening a file without defining your own function in Python 3.4:
var=open("A_blank_text_document_you_created","type_of_file")
var.write("what you want to write")
print (var.read()) #this outputs the file contents
var.close() #closing the file
Here are the types of files:
"r": just to read a file
"w": just to write a file
"r+": a special type which allows both reading and writing of the file
For more information see this cheatsheet.

def main():
file=open("chirag.txt","r")
for n in file:
print (n.strip("t"))
file.close()
if __name__== "__main__":
main()
the other method is
with open("chirag.txt","r") as f:
for n in f:
print(n)

Changing a file line - Python

I've a file entitled 'users.txt' with the following structure; username:info_about_the_user.
Something like this:
users.txt:
mark:stuffabouthim anthony:stuffabouthim peter:stuffabouthim peterpeter:stuffabouthim peterpeterpeter:stuffabouthim peterpeterpeterpeter:stuffabouthim
The following part of the script needs to change a line (change info about an user) but I'm having problems when the string is duplicated (peter - peterpeter) and I dont know how to fix it.
def test():
fn = 'users.txt'
f = open(fn)
output = []
changeuser = 'peterpeter'
userinfo = 'HeIsTall'
for line in f:
if not changeuser+":" in line:
output.append(line)
f.close()
f = open(fn, 'w')
f.writelines(output)
f.close()
f = open("users.txt", "a")
f.write(changeuser + ":" + userinfo+"\n")
f = open("users.txt", "a")
test()
This is the input I have:
Input: users.txt:
mark:stuffabouthim anthony:stuffabouthim peter:stuffabouthim peterpeter:HesAwesome peterpeterpeter:stuffabouthim peterpeterpeterpeter:stuffabouthim
I want to change info about peterpeter and have the following output:
Output I want to have: users.txt:
mark:stuffabouthim anthony:stuff about him peter:stuffabouthim peterpeter:HeIsTall peterpeterpeter:stuffabouthim peterpeterpeterpeter:stuffabouthim
But this is the input I'm having. All the lines behind peterpeter are getting deleted among other things.
mark:stuffabouthim
anthony:stuffabouthim
peter:stuffabouthim
peterpeter:HeIsTall
Can anyone give me a help with the code below to have the desired output? Thanks.

You can have it the easy way with the fileinput module:
import fileinput
def test():
fn = 'users.txt'
changeuser = 'peterpeter'
newinfo = 'HeIsTall'
for line in fileinput.input(fn, inplace=1):
user, oldinfo = line.split(':')
print '%s:%s' % (user, newinfo if user == changeuser else oldinfo.replace('\n', ''))
if __name__ == "__main__":
test()

try this:
def test():
fn = 'users.txt.txt'
f = open(fn)
output = []
changeuser = 'peterpeter'
userinfo = 'HeIsTall'
for line in f:
if line.strip().split(':')[0]!=changeuser:
output.append(line)
else:
output.append(changeuser + ":" + userinfo+"\n")
f.close()
f = open(fn, 'w')
f.writelines(output)
f.close()
test()
output:
mark:stuffabouthim
anthony:stuffabouthim
peter:stuffabouthim
peterpeter:HeIsTall
peterpeterpeter:stuffabouthim
peterpeterpeterpeter:stuffabouthim

You got a logical error in the if-clause, which DELETES all peters*, the only peter remaining is the one you append to the file.
for line in f:
if not changeuser+":" in line: #THAT MEANS ALL PETERS ARE IGNORED!
output.append(line)
It's generaly easier to understand positive clauses then a negation:
for line in f:
if changeuser+":" in line:
output.append('%s:%s\n' %(changeuser,userinfo))
else:
output.append(line)
Good code is easy to read. Try to code like you would try to write a report! That leads automatically to spliting your code into smaller pieces like functions. e.g.:
lines = read_all_lines_from_file(filename)
change_user_info(lines, user, userinfo)
save_lines_to_file(lines, filename)
Your code gets split into smaller pieces and if an error occurs you can pin it down to a few lines of code instead of having to work over several pages. ;-)

How do I remove a particular line from a file but keep other lines intact?

I want to learn Python so I started writing my first program which is a phone book directory.
It has the options to add a name and phone number, remove numbers, and search for them.
Ive been stuck on the remove part for about 2 days now and just can't get it working correctly. I've been in the Python IRC and everything, but haven't been able to figure it out.
Basically, my program stores the numbers to a list in a file. I cannot figure out how to remove a particular line in the file but keep the rest of the file intact. Can someone please help me with this?
Some people have advised that it will be easier to do if I create a temp file, remove the line, then copy the remaining lines from the original file over to the temp file. Then write over the original file over with the temp file. So I have been trying this...
if ui == 'remove':
coname = raw_input('What company do you want to remove? ') # company name
f = open('codilist.txt', 'r') # original phone number listing
f1 = open('codilist.tmp', 'a') # open a tmp file
for line in f:
if line.strip() != coname.strip():
for line in f:
f1.write(line)
break # WILL LATER OVERWRITE THE codilist.txt WITH THE TMP FILE
else:
f1.write(line)
else:
print 'Error: That company is not listed.'
f1.close()
f.close()
continue

I assume your file contains something like <name><whitespace><number> on each line? If that's the case, you could use something like this for your if statement (error handling not included!):
name, num = line.strip().split()
if name != coname.strip():
# write to file
Suggestion:
Unless there is some specific reason for you to use a custom format, the file format json is quite good for this kind of task. Also note the use of the 'with' statement in these examples, which saves you having to explicitly close the file.
To write the information:
import json
# Somehow build a dict of {coname: num,...}
info = {'companyA': '0123456789', 'companyB': '0987654321'}
with open('codilist.txt', 'w') as f:
json.dump(info, f, indent=4) # Using indent for prettier files
To read/amend the file:
import json
with open('codilist.txt', 'r+') as f:
info = json.load(f)
# Remove coname
if coname in info:
info.pop(coname)
else:
print 'No record exists for ' + coname
# Add 'companyC'
info['companyC'] = '0112233445'
# Write back to file
json.dump(info, f, indent=4)
You'll need python2.6 or later for these examples. If you're on 2.5, you'll need these imports:
import simplejson as json
from __future__ import with_statement
Hope that helps!

Here is a pretty extensively rewritten version:
all the phone data is wrapped into a Phonebook class; data is kept in memory (instead of being saved and reloaded for every call)
it uses the csv module to load and save data
individual actions are turned into short functions or methods (instead of One Big Block of Code)
commands are abstracted into a function-dispatch dictionary (instead of a cascade of if/then tests)
This should be much easier to understand and maintain.
import csv
def show_help():
print('\n'.join([
"Commands:",
" help shows this screen",
" load [file] loads the phonebook (file name is optional)",
" save [file] saves the phonebook (file name is optional)",
" add {name} {number} adds an entry to the phonebook",
" remove {name} removes an entry from the phonebook",
" search {name} displays matching entries",
" list show all entries",
" quit exits the program"
]))
def getparam(val, prompt):
if val is None:
return raw_input(prompt).strip()
else:
return val
class Phonebook(object):
def __init__(self, fname):
self.fname = fname
self.data = []
self.load()
def load(self, fname=None):
if fname is None:
fname = self.fname
try:
with open(fname, 'rb') as inf:
self.data = list(csv.reader(inf))
print("Phonebook loaded")
except IOError:
print("Couldn't open '{}'".format(fname))
def save(self, fname=None):
if fname is None:
fname = self.fname
with open(fname, 'wb') as outf:
csv.writer(outf).writerows(self.data)
print("Phonebook saved")
def add(self, name=None, number=None):
name = getparam(name, 'Company name? ')
number = getparam(number, 'Company number? ')
self.data.append([name,number])
print("Company added")
def remove(self, name=None):
name = getparam(name, 'Company name? ')
before = len(self.data)
self.data = [d for d in self.data if d[0] != name]
after = len(self.data)
print("Deleted {} entries".format(before-after))
def search(self, name=None):
name = getparam(name, 'Company name? ')
found = 0
for c,n in self.data:
if c.startswith(name):
found += 1
print("{:<20} {:<15}".format(c,n))
print("Found {} entries".format(found))
def list(self):
for c,n in self.data:
print("{:<20} {:<15}".format(c,n))
print("Listed {} entries".format(len(self.data)))
def main():
pb = Phonebook('phonebook.csv')
commands = {
'help': show_help,
'load': pb.load,
'save': pb.save,
'add': pb.add,
'remove': pb.remove,
'search': pb.search,
'list': pb.list
}
goodbyes = set(['quit','bye','exit'])
while True:
# get user input
inp = raw_input("#> ").split()
# if something was typed in
if inp:
# first word entered is the command; anything after that is a parameter
cmd,args = inp[0],inp[1:]
if cmd in goodbyes:
# exit the program (can't be delegated to a function)
print 'Goodbye.'
break
elif cmd in commands:
# "I know how to do this..."
try:
# call the appropriate function, and pass any parameters
commands[cmd](*args)
except TypeError:
print("Wrong number of arguments (type 'help' for commands)")
else:
print("I didn't understand that (type 'help' for commands)")
if __name__=="__main__":
main()

Something simple like this will read all of f, and write out all the lines that don't match:
for line in f:
if line.strip() != coname.strip():
f1.write(line)

Ned's answer looks like it should work. If you haven't tried this already, you can set python's interactive debugger above the line in question. Then you can print out the values of line.strip() and coname.strip() to verify you are comparing apples to apples.
for line in f:
import pdb
pdb.set_trace()
if line.strip() != coname.strip():
f1.write(line)
Here's a list of pdb commands.

You probably don't want to open the temp file in append ('a') mode:
f1 = open('codilist.tmp', 'a') # open a tmp file
also, be aware that
for line in f:
...
f1.write(line)
will write everything to the file without newlines.
The basic structure you want is:
for line in myfile:
if not <line-matches-company>:
tmpfile.write(line + '\n') # or print >>tmpfile, line
you'll have to implement <line-matches-company> (there isn't enough information in the question to know what it should be -- perhaps if you showed a couple of lines from your data file..?)

I got this working...
if ui == 'remove':
coname = raw_input('What company do you want to remove? ') # company name
f = open('codilist.txt')
tmpfile = open('codilist.tmp', 'w')
for line in f:
if coname in line:
print coname + ' has been removed.'
else:
tmpfile.write(line)
f.close()
tmpfile.close()
os.rename('codilist.tmp', 'codilist.txt')
continue