Main objective: function to read top score from text file. Parameters to be passed onto function: A text document!
def highscore():
try:
text_file = open ("topscore.txt", "r")
topscore = int(text_file.read())
print topscore
text_file.close()
return topscore
except:
print "Error - no file"
topscore = 0
return topscore
How to add a text file as a parameter?
def highscore(filename):
try:
text_file = open (filename, "r")
Oh, and you should stop putting more code than necessary into your try block. A clean solution would look like this:
def highscore(filename):
if not os.path.isfile(filename):
return 0
with open(filename, 'r') as f:
return int(f.read())
Or, if you prefer to return 0 in any case where reading the file fails:
def highscore(filename):
try:
with open(filename, 'r') as f:
return int(f.read())
except:
return 0
if not os.path.isfile() construct, because it asks for permission instead of forgiveness. What if the file is deleted between that call succeeding and the subsequent with open() line? I much prefer your final example.
. (period) in your parameter name for your file. So rather than data.txt, try data_txt, or better yet filename as both of our answers show.
def highscore(filename) and then you would call it highscore("data.txt")as f: stand for in that code you've provided, as I got no in depth knowledge about python and I'm considerably new to programming, what does it defy ?Another option is to provide a keyword argument. That may be useful if, for example, you have old code that uses this function and can't be updated for some strange reason. Keyword arguments can include a default value.
def highscore( filename = "filename.txt" ):
try:
text_file = open (filename, "r")
Then you can call this function as before to use the default value, "filename.txt":
highscore()
Or specify any new filename:
highscore( filename = "otherfile.csv" )
See the python documentation for more information. http://docs.python.org/tutorial/controlflow.html#default-argument-values
def highscore(filename):
try:
text_file = open(filename, "r")
...
Simply add a variable identifier (e.g.,filename) to your parameter list and then refer to it when you open the file.
Then call your function with the filename you choose.
topscore = highscore("topscore.txt")
