Hi, I'm not sure if this is exactly what you had in mind but what about something like this:
elements = [] Els = "" pt = {'H': 1.00794, 'He': 4.002602, 'Li': 6.941, 'Be': 9.012182, 'B':10.811} while Els != 'No': Els = raw_input("""Are there any further elements you would like to include? if so type the element, eg, Pd. If not type No:""") if pt.has_key(Els): elements.append({Els:pt[Els]}) print elements Alistair King wrote: > Hei all, > > im trying to create a list of variables for further use: > > > Els = raw_input("Are there any further elements you would like to > include? if so type the element, eg, Pd. If not type No: ") > > if Els != 'No': > el = Els in pt > while el == 1 and Els != 'Next': > elements = [] > elements.insert(-1, Els) > > Els = raw_input("Which further element would you like to > include, eg, Pd, if not type Next: ") > el = Els in pt > > while el == 0 and Els != 'Next': > Els = raw_input("This is not an element in the periodic > table, please try again, eg Pd, If you dont wish to include any more, > type Next: ") > if el == 1: > elements.insert(-1, Els) > > while el == 0: > Els = raw_input("This is not an element in the periodic > table, please try again, eg Pd. If you dont wish to include any more, > type Next: ") > > print elements > > > this works to a certain extent but gets stuck on some loop. Im a > beginner and am not sure where im going wrong. > > here is a portion of the dictionary containing typical elements: > > pt = {'H': 1.00794, 'He': 4.002602, 'Li': 6.941, 'Be': 9.012182, 'B': > 10.811} > > > Ali > > > -- > Dr. Alistair King > Research Chemist, > Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, > Department of Chemistry, > Faculty of Science > P.O. Box 55 (A.I. Virtasen aukio 1) > FIN-00014 University of Helsinki > Tel. +358 9 191 50429, Mobile +358 (0)50 5279446 > Fax +358 9 191 50366 -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list