Updated my Codementor profile with my training page link (Python, Linux, SQL, ...)

Hi, readers,

I updated my Codementor profile with my training page link (Python,
Linux, SQL, ...)

See:

https://www.codementor.io/vasudevram

And the direct link to the training page is here, with course outlines
and testimonials:

https://jugad2.blogspot.com/p/training.html

Also, I will be posting in the way I have done for this current post -
i.e. via Blogger's email-to-blog service - which has limited
functionality (e.g. less formatting options) - until this Google
Blogger UI issue (which started for me a few days ago) is resolved:

https://jugad2.blogspot.com/2019/04/test-post-via-email-to-check-some.html

Until then, sorry for the inconvenience.

And/or may start another blog on a different blogging platform. Will
keep my readers posted about what I decide, and will share the link to
the new blog here if I do create a new one.

Thanks.
Vasudev

--
Training: Python, SQL, Linux, more:
https://jugad2.blogspot.com/p/training.html
Web site: https://vasudevram.github.io
Blog: https://jugad2.blogspot.com
Products: https://gumroad.com/vasudevram

Test post via email to check some Blogger issue

Test post via Blogger's email-to-blog service, to check some possible
Blogger issue that is preventing me from writing posts and managing my
blog in the regular web-based admin interface.

- Vasudev

--
Training: Python, SQL, Linux, more:
https://jugad2.blogspot.com/p/training.html
Web site: https://vasudevram.github.io
Blog: https://jugad2.blogspot.com
Products: https://gumroad.com/vasudevram

rmline: Python command-line utility to remove lines from a file [Rosetta Code solution]

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- By Vasudev Ram - Online Python training / SQL training / Linux training

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Pipeline image attribution

Hi readers,

Long time no post. Sorry.

I saw this programming problem about removing lines from a file on Rosetta Code.

Rosetta Code (Wikipedia) is a programming chrestomathy site.

It's a simple problem, so I thought it would make a good example for Python beginners.

So I wrote a program to solve it. To get the benefits of reuse and composition (at the command line), I wrote it as a Unix-style filter.

Here it is, in file rmline.py:

# Author: Vasudev Ram
# Copyright Vasudev Ram
# Product store:
#    https://gumroad.com/vasudevram
# Training (course outlines and testimonials):
#    https://jugad2.blogspot.com/p/training.html
# Blog:
#    https://jugad2.blogspot.com
# Web site:
#    https://vasudevram.github.io
# Twitter:
#    https://twitter.com/vasudevram

# Problem source:
# https://rosettacode.org/wiki/Remove_lines_from_a_file

from __future__ import print_function
import sys

from error_exit import error_exit

# globals 
sa, lsa = sys.argv, len(sys.argv)

def usage():
    print("Usage: {} start_line num_lines file".format(sa[0]))
    print("Usage: other_command | {} start_line num_lines".format(
    sa[0]))

def main():
    # Check number of args.
    if lsa < 3:
        usage()
        sys.exit(0)

    # Convert number args to ints.
    try:
        start_line = int(sa[1])
        num_lines = int(sa[2])
    except ValueError as ve:
        error_exit("{}: ValueError: {}".format(sa[0], str(ve)))

    # Validate int ranges.
    if start_line < 1:
        error_exit("{}: start_line ({}) must be > 0".format(sa[0], 
        start_line))
    if num_lines < 1:
        error_exit("{}: num_lines ({}) must be > 0".format(sa[0], 
        num_lines))

    # Decide source of input (stdin or file).
    if lsa == 3:
        in_fil = sys.stdin
    else:
        try:
            in_fil = open(sa[3], "r")
        except IOError as ioe:
            error_exit("{}: IOError: {}".format(sa[0], str(ioe)))

    end_line = start_line + num_lines - 1

    # Read input, skip unwanted lines, write others to output.
    for line_num, line in enumerate(in_fil, 1):
        if line_num < start_line:
            sys.stdout.write(line)
        elif line_num > end_line:
            sys.stdout.write(line)

    in_fil.close()

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

Here are a few test text files I tried it on:

$ dir f?.txt/b
f0.txt
f5.txt
f20.txt

f0.txt has 0 bytes.
Contents of f5.txt:

$ type f5.txt
line 1
line 2
line 3
line 4
line 5

f20.txt is similar to f5.txt, but with 20 lines.

Here are a few runs of the program, with output:

$ python rmline.py
Usage: rmline.py start_line num_lines file
Usage: other_command | rmline.py start_line num_lines

$ dir | python rmline.py
Usage: rmline.py start_line num_lines file
Usage: other_command | rmline.py start_line num_lines

Both the above runs show that when called with an invalid set of
arguments (none, in this case), it prints a usage message and exits.

$ python rmline.py f0.txt
Usage: rmline.py start_line num_lines file
Usage: other_command | rmline.py start_line num_lines

Same result, except I gave an invalid first (and only) argument, a file name. See the usage() function in the code to know the right order and types of arguments.

$ python rmline.py -3 4 f0.txt
rmline.py: start_line (-3) must be > 0

$ python rmline.py 2 0 f0.txt
rmline.py: num_lines (0) must be > 0

The above two runs shows that it checks for invalid values for the
first two expected integer argyuments, start_line and num_line.

$ python rmline.py 1 2 f0.txt

For an empty input file, as expected, it both removes and prints nothing.

$ python rmline.py 1 2 f5.txt
line 3
line 4
line 5

The above run shows it removing lines 1 through 2 (start_line = 1, num_lines = 2) of the input from the output.

$ python rmline.py 7 4 f5.txt
line 1
line 2
line 3
line 4
line 5

The above run shows that if you give a starting line number larger than the last input line number, it removes no lines of the input.

$ python rmline.py 1 10 f20.txt
line 11
line 12
line 13
line 14
line 15
line 16
line 17
line 18
line 19
line 20

The above run shows it removing the first 10 lines of the input.

$ python rmline.py 6 10 f20.txt
line 1
line 2
line 3
line 4
line 5
line 16
line 17
line 18
line 19
line 20

The above run shows it removing the middle 10 lines of the input.

$ python rmline.py 11 10 f20.txt
line 1
line 2
line 3
line 4
line 5
line 6
line 7
line 8
line 9
line 10

The above run shows it removing the last 10 lines of the input.

Read more:

Pipeline (computing)

Redirection (computing)

The image at the top of the post is of a Unix-style pipeline, with standard input (stdin), standard output (stdout) and standard error (stderr) streams of programs, all independently redirectable, and with the standard output of a preceding command piped to the standard input of the succeeding command in the pipeline. Pipelines and I/O redirection are one of the powerful features of the Unix operating system and shell.

Read a brief introduction to those concepts in an article I wrote for IBM developerWorks:

Developing a Linux command-line utility

The above link is to a post about that utility on my blog. For the
actual code for the utility (in C), and for the PDF of the article,
follow the relevant links in the post.

I had originally written the utility for production use for one of the
largest motorcycle manufacturers in the world.

Enjoy.

What did Al Gore Ythm say to Data St. Ructure?

By Vasudev Ram

What did Al Gore Ythm say to Data St. Ructure?

When we mate, we'll create a Pro G. Ramma!

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- Vasudev Ram - Online Python training and consulting

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pprint.isrecursive: Check if object requires recursive representation

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- By Vasudev Ram - Online Python training / SQL training / Linux training

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Tree image attribution

Hi, readers,

I was using the pprint module to pretty-print some Python data structures in a program I was writing. Then saw that it has a function called isrecursive.

The docstring for pprint.isrecursive says:

>>> print pprint.isrecursive.__doc__
Determine if object requires a recursive representation.

Here is a Python 3 shell session that shows what the isrecursive function does, with a list:

>>> import pprint
>>> print(pprint.pprint.__doc__)
Pretty-print a Python object to a stream [default is sys.stdout].
>>> a = []
>>> a
[]
>>> pprint.isrecursive(a)
False
>>>
>>> a.append(a)
>>> a
[[...]]
>>>
>>> pprint.isrecursive(a)
True

How about for a dict?

>>> b = {}
>>> pprint.isrecursive(b)
False
>>>
>>> b[1] = b
>>> b
{1: {...}}
>>> id(b) == id(b[1])
True
>>> pprint.isrecursive(b)
True

How about if an object is recursive, but not directly, like in the above two examples? Instead, it is recursive via a chain of objects:

>>> c = []
>>> d = []
>>> e = []
>>> c.append(d)
>>> d.append(e)
>>> c
[[[]]]
>>> pprint.isrecursive(c)
False
>>> e.append(c)
>>> c
[[[[...]]]]
>>> pprint.isrecursive(c)
True

So we can see that isrecursive is useful to detect some recursive Python object structures.
Interestingly, if I compare c with c[0] (after making c a recursive structure), I get:

>>> c == c[0]
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "", line 1, in 
RecursionError: maximum recursion depth exceeded in comparison
>>>

In Python 2, I get:

RuntimeError: maximum recursion depth exceeded in cmp

Also, relevant XKCD-clone.

The image at the top of the post is of a tree created in the LOGO programming language using recursion.

- Enjoy.

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- Vasudev Ram - Online Python training and consulting

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I conduct online courses on Python programming, Unix / Linux commands and shell scripting and SQL programming and database design, with course material and personal coaching sessions.

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Contact me for details of course content, terms and schedule.

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