How should I use a file reader class in Python? - python

I'd like to figure out how I should use a class to read input from a file so that I can use that data in other classes. If I read input from a file into a list, should I pass that to another class that needs that to use that information?
Right now I have:
import sys
class FileReader:
"""Reads a file"""
def __init__(self):
input = ''
try:
with open(sys.argv[1], 'r') as inFile:
input = inFile.readline()
print(input)
except IndexError:
print("Error - Please specify an input file.")
sys.exit(2)
def main():
x = FileReader()
if __name__ == "__main__":
main()
I thought about making some kind of list to hold strings from the file, but I'm not sure whether that should be global or not.

If all you're trying to do is read the file line by line, something like the following would work just fine (exception handling omitted).
>>> path = '/path/to/file.txt'
>>> with open(path, 'r') as f:
... lines = [l for l in f]
You can then pass around lines as necessary.

Related

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

How to read complete file usind pickle.load()?

Suppose, I want to read the complete file using pickle.load(), not just a single line. I know I can use try - except but is there any other method to read it?
I am using this:
import pickle
d = {}
for i in range(2):
roll_no = int(input("Enter roll no: "))
name = input("Enter name: ")
d[roll_no] = name
f = open("test.dat", "ab")
pickle.dump(d, f)
f.close()
f = open("test.dat", "rb")
while True:
try:
print(pickle.load(f))
except EOFError:
break
The official Python library does not support this within a single instruction. You can define your own helper function though:
import io
import pickle
from typing import List
def unpickle(file: io.IOBase) -> List[object]:
result = []
while True:
try:
result.append(pickle.load(file))
except EOFError:
break
return result
You can then call it like this
with open('data.pickle', 'rb') as f:
objects = unpickle(f)
objects will contain all the objects that have been serialized in data.pickle here.
You can use file.tell to see if you are at EOF
f = open("test.dat", "rb")
# go to end of file and get position
size = f.seek(0, 2)
# now return to the front and pull pickle records
f.seek(0)
while f.tell() < size:
print(pickle.load(f))

Verify data on a file

I'm trying to make my life easier on my work, and writing down errors and solutions for that same errors. The program itself works fine when it's about adding new errors, but then I added a function to verify if the error exists in the file and then do something to it (not added yet).
The function doesn't work and I don't know why. I tried to debug it, but still not able to find the error, maybe a conceptual error?
Anyway, here's my entire code.
import sys
import os
err = {}
PATH = 'C:/users/userdefault/desktop/errordb.txt'
#def open_file(): #Not yet used
#file_read = open(PATH, 'r')
#return file_read
def verify_error(error_number, loglist): #Verify if error exists in file
for error in loglist:
if error_number in loglist:
return True
def dict_error(error_number, solution): #Puts input errors in dict
err = {error_number: solution}
return err
def verify_file(): #Verify if file exists. Return True if it does
archive = os.path.isfile(PATH)
return archive
def new_error():
file = open(PATH, 'r') #Opens file in read mode
loglist = file.readlines()
file.close()
found = False
error_number = input("Error number: ")
if verify_error(error_number, loglist) == True:
found = True
# Add new solution, or another solution.
pass
solution = str(input("Solution: "))
file = open(PATH, 'a')
error = dict_error(error_number, solution)
#Writes dict on file
file.write(str(error))
file.write("\n")
file.close()
def main():
verify = verify_file() #Verify if file exists
if verify == True:
new = str.lower(input("New job Y/N: "))
if new == 'n':
sys.exit()
while new == 'y':
new_error()
new = str.lower(input("New job Y/N: "))
else:
sys.exit()
else:
file = open(PATH, "x")
file.close()
main()
main()
To clarify, the program executes fine, it don't return an error code. It just won't execute the way I'm intended, I mean, it supposed to verify if certain error number already exists.
Thanks in advance :)
The issue I believe you're having is the fact that you're not actually creating a dictionary object in the file and modifying it but instead creating additional dictionaries every time an error is added then reading them back as a list of strings by using the .readlines() method.
An easier way of doing it would be to create a dictionary if one doesn't exist and append errors to it. I've made a few modifications to your code which should help.
import sys
import os
import json # Import in json and use is as the format to store out data in
err = {}
PATH = 'C:/users/userdefault/desktop/errordb.txt'
# You can achieve this by using a context manager
#def open_file(): #Not yet used
#file_read = open(PATH, 'r')
#return file_read
def verify_error(error_number, loglist): #Verify if error exists in file
# Notice how we're looping over keys of your dictionary to check if
# an error already exists.
# To access values use loglist[k]
for k in loglist.keys():
if error_number == k:
return True
return False
def dict_error(loglist, error_number, solution): #Puts input errors in dict
# Instead of returning a new dictionary, return the existing one
# with the new error appended to it
loglist[error_number] = solution
return loglist
def verify_file(): #Verify if file exists. Return True if it does
archive = os.path.isfile(PATH)
return archive
def new_error():
# Let's move all the variables to the top, makes it easier to read the function
# Changes made:
# 1. Changed the way we open and read files, now using a context manager (aka with open() as f:
# 2. Added a json parser to store in and read from file in a json format. If data doesn't exist (new file?) create a new dictionary object instead
# 3. Added an exception to signify that an error has been found in the database (this can be removed to add additional logic if you'd like to do more stuff to the error, etc)
# 4. Changed the way we write to file, instead of appending a new line we now override the contents with a new updated dictionary that has been serialized into a json format
found = False
loglist = None
# Open file as read-only using a context manager, now we don't have to worry about closing it manually
with open(PATH, 'r') as f:
# Lets read the file and run it through a json parser to get a python dictionary
try:
loglist = json.loads(f.read())
except json.decoder.JSONDecodeError:
loglist = {}
error_number = input("Error number: ")
if verify_error(error_number, loglist) is True:
found = True
raise Exception('Error exists in the database') # Raise exception if you want to stop loop execution
# Add new solution, or another solution.
solution = str(input("Solution: "))
# This time open in write only and replace the dictionary
with open(PATH, 'w') as f:
loglist = dict_error(loglist, error_number, solution)
# Writes dict on file in json format
f.write(json.dumps(loglist))
def main():
verify = verify_file() #Verify if file exists
if verify == True:
new = str.lower(input("New job Y/N: "))
if new == 'n':
sys.exit()
while new == 'y':
new_error()
new = str.lower(input("New job Y/N: "))
else:
sys.exit()
else:
with open(PATH, "x") as f:
pass
main()
main()
Note that you will have to create a new errordb file for this snippet to work.
Hope this has helped somehow. If you have any further questions hit me up in the comments!
References:
Reading and Writing files in Python
JSON encoder and decoder in Python
I think that there may be a couple of problems with your code, but the first thing that I noticed was that you are saving Error Numbers and Solutions as a dictionary in errorsdb.txt and when you read them back in you are reading them back in as a list of strings:
The line:
loglist = file.readlines()
in new_error returns a list of strings. This means that verify_error will always return False.
So you have a couple of choices:
You could modify verify_error to the following:
def verify_error(error_number, loglist): #Verify if error exists in file
for error in loglist:
if error_number in error:
return True
Although, I think that a better solution would be to load errorsdb.txt as a JSON file and then you'll have a dictionary. That would look something like:
import json
errordb = {}
with open(PATH) as handle:
errordb = json.load(handle)
So here are the full set of changes I would make:
import json
def verify_error(error_number, loglist): #Verify if error exists in file
for error in loglist:
if error_number in error:
return True
def new_error():
errordb = list()
exitsting = list()
with open(PATH) as handle:
existing = json.load(handle)
errordb += existing
error_number = input("Error number: ")
if verify_error(error_number, errordb) == True:
# Add new solution, or another solution.
print("I might do something here.")
else:
solution = str(input("Solution: "))
errordb.append({error_number, solution})
#Writes dict on file
with open(PATH, "w") as handle:
json.dump(errordb, handle)

Search for a string with in a module in a python file using Python

#!/usr/bin/env python`
import sys`
import binascii`
import string
sample = "foo.apples"
data_file = open("file1.py","r")
dat_file = open("file2.txt", "w")
for line in data_file:
if sample in line:
dat_file.writelines(line)
dat_file.close()`
When I do this I am able to find the string foo.apples. The problem is foo.apples is present in various lines in the python file. I want those lines which are inside a particular function. I need the lines within this def function.
Example:
def start():
foo.apples(a,b)
foo.apples(c,d) ... so on.
The following program finds defs and will append the sample string to the output file if the indentation remains within the def.
import re
sample = 'foo.apples'
data_file = open("file1.py", "r")
out_file = open("file2.txt", "w")
within_def = False
def_indent = 0
for line in data_file:
def_match = re.match(r'(\s*)def\s+start\s*\(', line) # EDIT: fixed regex
if def_match and not within_def:
within_def = True
def_indent = len(def_match.group(1))
elif within_def and re.match(r'\s{%s}\S' % def_indent, line):
within_def = False
if within_def and sample in line:
out_file.writelines(line)
out_file.close()
data_file.close()
Tested working on an example file1.py.
One, slightly off the beaten path approach to this would be to use the getsource method of the inspect module. Consider the following (theoretical) test1.py file:
class foo(object):
apples = 'granny_smith'
#classmethod
def new_apples(cls):
cls.apples = 'macintosh'
def start():
"""This is a pretty meaningless python function.
Attempts to run it will definitely result in an exception being thrown"""
print foo.apples
foo.apples = 3
[x for x in range(10)]
import bar as foo
Now you want to know about the start code:
import inspect
import test1 #assume it is somewhere that can be imported
print inspect.getsource(test1.start)
Ok, now we have only the source of that function. We can now parse through that:
for line in inspect.getsource(test1.start).splitlines():
if 'foo.apples' in line:
print line
There are some advantages here -- python does all the work of parsing out the function blocks when it imports the file. The downside though is that the file actually needs to be imported. Depending on where your files are coming from, this could introduce a HUGE security hole in your program -- You'll be running (potentially) "untrusted" code.
Here's a very non pythonic way, untested, but it should work.
sample = "foo.apples"
infile = open("file1.py", "r")
outfile = open("file2.txt", "w")
in_function = False
for line in infile.readlines():
if in_function:
if line[0] in(" ", "\t"):
if sample in line:
outfile.write(line)
else:
in_function = False
elif line.strip() == "def start():":
in_function = True
infile.close()
outfile.close()
I would suggest doing a function of this, which takes sample, the input file, and the function which we're supposed to search from as it's parameters. It would then return a list or tuple of all the lines that had the text in them.
def findFromFile(file, word, function):
in_function = False
matches = []
infile = open(file, "r")
for line in infile.readlines():
if in_function:
if line[0] in(" ", "\t"):
if word in line:
matches.append(line)
else:
in_function = False
elif line.strip() == "def %s():"%function:
in_function = True
infile.close()
return matches

Return value help Python

Im having trouble printing the return value of one of my functions
def readfile(filename):
'''
Reads the entire contents of a file into a single string using
the read() method.
Parameter: the name of the file to read (as a string)
Returns: the text in the file as a large, possibly multi-line, string
'''
try:
infile = open(filename, "r") # open file for reading
# Use Python's file read function to read the file contents
filetext = infile.read()
infile.close() # close the file
return filetext # the text of the file, as a single string
except IOError:
()
def main():
''' Read and print a file's contents. '''
file = input(str('Name of file? '))
readfile(file)
How do I save readfile's value into a different variable then print the value of the variable where you saved readfile's return value?
This is the simplest way, I wont recommend adding a try block in the function because you will have to use it anyways after or return a empty value which is a bad thing
def readFile(FileName):
return open(FileName).read()
def main():
try:
File_String = readFile(raw_input("File name: "))
print File_String
except IOError:
print("File not found.")
if __name__ == "__main__":
main()
Have you tried:
def main():
''' Read and print a file's contents. '''
file = input(str('Name of file? '))
read_contents = readfile(file)
print read_contents
def main():
''' Read and print a file's contents. '''
file = input(str('Name of file? '))
text = readfile(file)
print text
this should do it, just assign the functions call to a variable.
But in case when the exception is raised you're returning nothing, so the function will return None.
def main():
''' Read and print a file's contents. '''
file = input('Name of file? ') #no need of str() here
foo=readfile(file)
print foo
and use with statement when handling files, it takes care of the closing of the file:
def readfile(filename):
try:
with open(filename) as infile :
filetext = infile.read()
return filetext
except IOError:
pass
#return something here too

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