Programming Forums > Script Programming > Python

zem52887 · May 23rd, 2006, 12:04 PM

thanks much, I can almost taste freedom.

Arevos · May 23rd, 2006, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zem52887

I'm not familiar with the len function, I'll read about it, but quickly before I do, is it necessary. The word "highlights" only appears on a company page once, so my logic is that if it's there then we want it to fetch the table around it, and if it is not there, then we want it to display an "N/A" in the excel cell. We're not dealing with multiple highlights so do we need to implement the above?

Yeah, you could just say something like "if highlights is empty: output a blank cell, else: output a cell with the information".

zem52887 · May 23rd, 2006, 12:07 PM

Sorry little confused regarding the above post, do I know how to tell python to output a blank cell, I can't just write that can I?

(Toggle Plain Text)

highlights = soup.fetchText(re.compile("Highlights"))[0]
if highlights = [0]
    financialhighlights = highlights.findParent("table")
else highlights == []
    _________ don't know what goes here (if anything?) can I leave 
it blank and it will  be blank or do I have to 
instruct python what to do if it equals []?

Well I tested the above on a company link that doesn't have any financial information and it gave me a syntax error, first it highlighted the first equal sign in the line

(Toggle Plain Text)

 if highlights = [0]

, when I made it "==" it put a red line after the [0]. Not sure what this means or what I'm doing wrong because it worked when I used it on a page that had financial information posted.

Okay I'm looking at my code again and I don't think I'm remotely close to what it needs to be, I'm gonna take another look and try and revise it.

hm, perhaps:

(Toggle Plain Text)

#Financial Highlights
highlights = soup.fetchText(re.compile("Highlights"))

if highlights == []:
    print highlights
    
elif highlights == [0]:
    financialhighlights = highlights.findParent("table")
    print financialhighlights

I think that will print a blank bracket, which I can live with. However, ultimately, we're not printing we're outputting so I'm not sure what I should do.

Arevos · May 23rd, 2006, 1:12 PM

Use "else" instead of "elif ...". Lookup what if and else mean.

With regards to blank cells, I'll give you a quick runthrough of writing information to a CSV file.

An example CSV file looks like this:

(Toggle Plain Text)

Last name, First name, Phone number
Smith, John, 555-1000
Jones, Ann, 555-2000
Wayne, Fred, 555-3000

This CSV file can be imported into Excel through the file->import menu option. Try putting the above into a text file, and then importing it into Excel.

The above CSV file uses commas to break up the columns. Excel allows you to specify other characters to split the data up (The | character is good, since it's rarely used in text).

That's all well and good, but we now need to get Python to create such a file.

The following code opens a file and writes some text to it:

(Toggle Plain Text)

file = open("C:\Path\To\file.txt", "w")

file.write("Hello World\n")

file.close()

The above code should be fairly self explanatory. The "w" tells Python that you want to write to the file (rather than to read from it).

Another useful thing to know is that you can join up a list into a string quite easily:

(Toggle Plain Text)

x = ["Smith", "John", "555-1000"]
print "|".join(x)

The above code prints out:

(Toggle Plain Text)

Smith|John|555-1000

You can obviously apply this to write to a file as well:

(Toggle Plain Text)

file = open("C:\Path\To\file.txt", "w")
x = ["Smith", "John", "555-1000"]
file.write("|".join(x))
file.close()

Thus, probably the easiest way to output company information is to output it as a list. The list represents a single row in the spreadsheet. Remember that you can make a list out of different elements like so:

(Toggle Plain Text)

firstname = "John"
lastname = "Smith"
phonenumber = "555-1000"
spreadsheet_row = [lastname, firstname, phonenumber]

If you want a blank cell, just put in a blank string ("") into the list.

Arevos · May 23rd, 2006, 1:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zem52887

(Toggle Plain Text)

 if highlights = [0]

, when I made it "==" it put a red line after the [0]. Not sure what this means or what I'm doing wrong because it worked when I used it on a page that had financial information posted.

There's a difference between = and ==. A single = is assignment; it makes a variable reference an object. A double == is comparison; it compares two values, returning True if they are equal, False if they are not.

[0] on its own is a list with zero inside it; it's only an index when it's placed after a variable, like list[0]. As I said, use "len" instead for this sort of thing, or learn the value of the "else" statement.

"len" is a very simple function. All it does is to return the size of a list. If a list has three items in it, len(list) returns 3. If a list has 1 item in it, len(list) returns 1. If a list is empty, len(list) returns 0.

zem52887 · May 23rd, 2006, 2:58 PM

I'm sorry I'm having a bit of trouble implementing this, but I think I have it now:

(Toggle Plain Text)

highlights = soup.fetchText(re.compile("Highlights"))
z = len(highlights)
if z == [1]:
    financialhighlights = highlights.findParent("table")
    print financialhighlights

else:
    print N/A

my question do I want the script to return these statements or print them? Bah, I tried it with a company with financial highlights and it printed N/A, so I guess I don't have it.

Arevos · May 23rd, 2006, 3:04 PM

Nearly. Remember that len() returns a single number, not a list:

(Toggle Plain Text)

if len(highlights) == 1:

zem52887 · May 23rd, 2006, 3:06 PM

boo you beat me to it, I just realized that and was about to edit hah.

regarding the

(Toggle Plain Text)

financialhighlights = highlights.findParent("table")

I'm getting the following error:
AttributeError: 'list' object has no attribute 'findParent'

should I be using something else rather than the findParent command?

Ooble · May 23rd, 2006, 3:30 PM

Let me jump in here. highlights, as I understand it, is not a BeautifulSoup tree, but a Python list. As such, you can perform list operations on it, but not tree operations.

Clicky.

zem52887 · May 23rd, 2006, 3:39 PM

wahoooooooooo I think I got it, I gotta test it with a page that doesn't have financial highlights but:

(Toggle Plain Text)

#Financial Highlights
highlights = soup.firstText(re.compile("Highlights"))
fhighlights = highlights.findParent("table")

z = len(highlights)
if z == 0:
    print "N/A"

else:
    print fhighlights

... victory! tested and works! Now I have to get this thing into a csv...

May 23rd, 2006, 12:07 PM	#133
zem52887 Hobbyist Programmer Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 127 Rep Power: 3	Sorry little confused regarding the above post, do I know how to tell python to output a blank cell, I can't just write that can I? (Toggle Plain Text) highlights = soup.fetchText(re.compile("Highlights"))[0] if highlights = [0] financialhighlights = highlights.findParent("table") else highlights == [] _________ don't know what goes here (if anything?) can I leave it blank and it will be blank or do I have to instruct python what to do if it equals []? highlights = soup.fetchText(re.compile("Highlights"))[0] if highlights = [0] financialhighlights = highlights.findParent("table") else highlights == [] _________ don't know what goes here (if anything?) can I leave it blank and it will be blank or do I have to instruct python what to do if it equals []? Well I tested the above on a company link that doesn't have any financial information and it gave me a syntax error, first it highlighted the first equal sign in the line (Toggle Plain Text) if highlights = [0] if highlights = [0] , when I made it "==" it put a red line after the [0]. Not sure what this means or what I'm doing wrong because it worked when I used it on a page that had financial information posted. Okay I'm looking at my code again and I don't think I'm remotely close to what it needs to be, I'm gonna take another look and try and revise it. hm, perhaps: (Toggle Plain Text) #Financial Highlights highlights = soup.fetchText(re.compile("Highlights")) if highlights == []: print highlights elif highlights == [0]: financialhighlights = highlights.findParent("table") print financialhighlights #Financial Highlights highlights = soup.fetchText(re.compile("Highlights")) if highlights == []: print highlights elif highlights == [0]: financialhighlights = highlights.findParent("table") print financialhighlights I think that will print a blank bracket, which I can live with. However, ultimately, we're not printing we're outputting so I'm not sure what I should do. Last edited by zem52887; May 23rd, 2006 at 12:20 PM.

May 23rd, 2006, 1:12 PM	#134
Arevos Programming Guru Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: England Posts: 1,499 Rep Power: 5	Use "else" instead of "elif ...". Lookup what if and else mean. With regards to blank cells, I'll give you a quick runthrough of writing information to a CSV file. An example CSV file looks like this: (Toggle Plain Text) Last name, First name, Phone number Smith, John, 555-1000 Jones, Ann, 555-2000 Wayne, Fred, 555-3000 Last name, First name, Phone number Smith, John, 555-1000 Jones, Ann, 555-2000 Wayne, Fred, 555-3000 This CSV file can be imported into Excel through the file->import menu option. Try putting the above into a text file, and then importing it into Excel. The above CSV file uses commas to break up the columns. Excel allows you to specify other characters to split the data up (The \| character is good, since it's rarely used in text). That's all well and good, but we now need to get Python to create such a file. The following code opens a file and writes some text to it: (Toggle Plain Text) file = open("C:\Path\To\file.txt", "w") file.write("Hello World\n") file.close() file = open("C:\Path\To\file.txt", "w") file.write("Hello World\n") file.close() The above code should be fairly self explanatory. The "w" tells Python that you want to write to the file (rather than to read from it). Another useful thing to know is that you can join up a list into a string quite easily: (Toggle Plain Text) x = ["Smith", "John", "555-1000"] print "\|".join(x) x = ["Smith", "John", "555-1000"] print "\|".join(x) The above code prints out: (Toggle Plain Text) Smith\|John\|555-1000 Smith\|John\|555-1000 You can obviously apply this to write to a file as well: (Toggle Plain Text) file = open("C:\Path\To\file.txt", "w") x = ["Smith", "John", "555-1000"] file.write("\|".join(x)) file.close() file = open("C:\Path\To\file.txt", "w") x = ["Smith", "John", "555-1000"] file.write("\|".join(x)) file.close() Thus, probably the easiest way to output company information is to output it as a list. The list represents a single row in the spreadsheet. Remember that you can make a list out of different elements like so: (Toggle Plain Text) firstname = "John" lastname = "Smith" phonenumber = "555-1000" spreadsheet_row = [lastname, firstname, phonenumber] firstname = "John" lastname = "Smith" phonenumber = "555-1000" spreadsheet_row = [lastname, firstname, phonenumber] If you want a blank cell, just put in a blank string ("") into the list.

May 23rd, 2006, 2:58 PM	#136
zem52887 Hobbyist Programmer Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 127 Rep Power: 3	I'm sorry I'm having a bit of trouble implementing this, but I think I have it now: (Toggle Plain Text) highlights = soup.fetchText(re.compile("Highlights")) z = len(highlights) if z == [1]: financialhighlights = highlights.findParent("table") print financialhighlights else: print N/A highlights = soup.fetchText(re.compile("Highlights")) z = len(highlights) if z == [1]: financialhighlights = highlights.findParent("table") print financialhighlights else: print N/A my question do I want the script to return these statements or print them? Bah, I tried it with a company with financial highlights and it printed N/A, so I guess I don't have it.

May 23rd, 2006, 3:04 PM	#137
Arevos Programming Guru Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: England Posts: 1,499 Rep Power: 5	Nearly. Remember that len() returns a single number, not a list: (Toggle Plain Text) if len(highlights) == 1: if len(highlights) == 1:

May 23rd, 2006, 3:06 PM	#138
zem52887 Hobbyist Programmer Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 127 Rep Power: 3	boo you beat me to it, I just realized that and was about to edit hah. regarding the (Toggle Plain Text) financialhighlights = highlights.findParent("table") financialhighlights = highlights.findParent("table") I'm getting the following error: AttributeError: 'list' object has no attribute 'findParent' should I be using something else rather than the findParent command? Last edited by zem52887; May 23rd, 2006 at 3:19 PM.

May 23rd, 2006, 12:04 PM	#131
zem52887 Hobbyist Programmer Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 127 Rep Power: 3	thanks much, I can almost taste freedom.

May 23rd, 2006, 3:30 PM	#139
Ooble I eat cake for breakfast. Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: In my box. Posts: 4,434 Rep Power: 9	Let me jump in here. highlights, as I understand it, is not a BeautifulSoup tree, but a Python list. As such, you can perform list operations on it, but not tree operations. Clicky. __________________ Me :: You :: Them

May 23rd, 2006, 3:39 PM	#140
zem52887 Hobbyist Programmer Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 127 Rep Power: 3	wahoooooooooo I think I got it, I gotta test it with a page that doesn't have financial highlights but: (Toggle Plain Text) #Financial Highlights highlights = soup.firstText(re.compile("Highlights")) fhighlights = highlights.findParent("table") z = len(highlights) if z == 0: print "N/A" else: print fhighlights #Financial Highlights highlights = soup.firstText(re.compile("Highlights")) fhighlights = highlights.findParent("table") z = len(highlights) if z == 0: print "N/A" else: print fhighlights ... victory! tested and works! Now I have to get this thing into a csv...

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

Programming Forums > Script Programming > Python

Never Programmed Before -- Have Task that makes me want to learn or ... die.