Wayne Watson wrote:
Ok, I'm back after a three day trip. You are correct about the use of pronouns and a few misplaced words. I should have reread what I wrote. I had described this in better detail elsewhere, and followed that description with the request here probably thinking back to it. I think I was getting a bit weary of trying to find an answer. Try t;his.


Folder1
   track1.py
  data1.txt
  data2.txt
  data3.txt

Folder2
   track1.py
   dset1.txt
   dset2.txt
   ...
   dset8.txt

So how do you know this is the structure? If there really are shortcuts or symbol links, why aren't you showing them? Did you do a DIR from the command line, to see what's there? Or are you looking in Explorer, which doesn't even show file extensions by default, and just guessing what's where ?

data and dset files have the same record formats. track1.py was copied into Folder2 with ctrl-c + ctrl-v.

Those keys don't work from a command prompt. From there, you'd use COPY or something similar. So I have to guess you were in an Explorer window, pointing to Folder 1, and you selected the python file, and pressed Ctrl-C. Then you navigated to Folder 2, and pressed Ctrl-V. If you did, Windows 7 wouldn't have created any kind of special file, any more than earlier ones did. Chances are you actually did something else. For example, you might have used a right-click drag, and answered "create shortcut" when it asked what you wanted to do. Or perhaps you did drag/drop with some ctrl-or alt-key modifier.

Anyway, you need to be more explicit about what you did. If you had used a command prompt, you could at least have pasted the things you tried directly to your message, so we wouldn't have so much guessing to do.
When I run track1.py from folder1, it clearly has examined the data.txt files.
And how are you running track1.py ? And how do you really know that's what ran? The code you posted would display a string, then the window would immediately go away, so you couldn't read it anyway.
If I run the copy of track1.py in folder2, it clearly operates on folder1 (one) data.txt files. This should not be.

If I look at the properties of track1.py in folder2 (two), it is pointing back to the program in folder1 (one).
Exactly what do you mean by "pointing back" ? If you're getting icons in your Explorer view, is there a little arrow in the corner? When you did the properties, did you see a tab labeled "shortcut" ?


I do not believe I've experienced this sort of linkage in any WinOS before. I believed I confirmed that the same behavior occurs using cmd prompt.

Shortcuts have been in Windows for at least 20 years. But you still haven't given enough clues about what you're doing.
I'll now  head for Alan's reply.

On 2/23/2010 5:35 PM, Dave Angel wrote:

Wayne Watson wrote:
A few days ago I posted a message titled ""Two" Card Monty. The problem I mentioned looks legitimate, and remains puzzling. I've probed this in a newsgroup, and no one has an explanation that fits.

My claim is that if one creates a program in a folder that reads a file in the folder it ... then copies it to another folder, it will read the data file in the first folder, and not a changed file in the new folder. I'd appreciate it if some w7 users could try the program below, and let me know what they find. I'm using IDLE in Win7 with Py 2.5.

My experience is that if one checks the properties of the copied file, it will point to the original py file and execute it and not the copy. If win7 is the culprit, I would think this is a somewhat serious problem. It may be the sample program is not representative of the larger program that has me stuck. If necessary I can provide it. It uses common modules. (Could this be something like the namespace usage of variables that share a common value?)

# Test program. Examine strange link in Python under Win7
# when copying py file to another folder.
# Call the program vefifywin7.py
# To verify my situation use IDLE, save and run this program there.
# Put this program into a folder along with a data file
# called verify.txt. Create a single text line with a few characters in it
# Run this program and note the output
# Copy the program and txt file to another folder
# Change the contents of the txt file
# Run it again, and see if the output is the same as in the other folder
track_file = open("verify.txt")
aline = track_file.readline();
print aline
track_file.close()

I find your English is very confusing. Instead of using so many pronouns with confusing antecedents, try being explicit.

>My claim is that if one creates a program in a folder that reads a file in the folder

Why not say that you created a program and a data file in the same folder, and had the program read the data file?

>...in the folder it and then copies it to another folder

That first 'it' makes no sense, and the second 'it' probably is meant to be "them". And who is it that does this copying? And using what method?

> ... it will read  the data file in the first folder

Who will read the data file? The first program, the second, or maybe the operator?

About now, I have to give up. I'm guessing that the last four lines of your message were intended to be the entire program, and that that same program is stored in two different folders, along with data files having the same name but different first lines. When you run one of these programs it prints the wrong version of the line.

You have lots of variables here, Python version, program contents, Idle, Windows version. Windows 7 doesn't do any mysterious "linking," so I'd stop making that your working hypothesis. Your problem is most likely the value of current directory ( os.getcwd() ). And that's set according to at least three different rules, depending on what program launches Python. If you insist on using Idle to launch it, then you'll have to convince someone who uses Idle to tell you its quirks. Most likely it has a separate menu for the starting directory than for the script name & location. But if you're willing to use the command line, then I could probably help, once you get a clear statement of the problem. By default, CMD.EXE uses the current directory as part of its prompt, and that's the current directory Python will start in.

But the first things to do are probably to print out the value of os.getcwd(), and to add a slightly different print in each version of the program so you know which one is running.

Incidentally, I'd avoid ever opening a data file in "the current directory." If I felt it important to use the current directory as an implied parameter to the program, I'd save it in a string, and build the full path to the desired file using os.path.join() or equivalent.

DaveA



_______________________________________________
Tutor maillist  -  Tutor@python.org
To unsubscribe or change subscription options:
http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor

Reply via email to