On Tue, 19 Jun 2007 05:15:17 -0700, ferrad <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I have not used Python before, but believe it may be what I need. > > I have large text files containing text, numbers, and junk. I want to > delete large chunks process other bits, etc, much like I'd do in an > editor, but want to do it automatically. I have a set of generic > rules that my fingers follow to process these files, which all follow > a similar template.
Doesn't your text editor have recordable macros? > Question: can I translate these types of rules into programmatical > constructs that Python can use to process these files? Can Python do > the trick? Impossible to tell, since we do not know these rules. If they need your good judgement, intelligence, knowledge or taste, a good text editor, with careful application of recorded macros, is the way to go. Maybe in combination with a few Perl or Python scripts and special features of the text editor. I often find myself doing that kind of work, when the text I start with is too irregular to be easily machine parsable. On the other hand, if the work is purely mechanical, tedious stuff, there is a fair chance that it can be completely automated using Python. (IMHO, Perl is often a better tool for this kind of work, but few other languages beat Python in this area.) /Jorgen -- // Jorgen Grahn <grahn@ Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu \X/ snipabacken.dyndns.org> R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn! -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
