Python code to generate random entries from multiple lists

Question

I'm new to Python and am trying to write a code that will generate the core elements of a story by choosing one random entry from the lists [characters] [traits] [themes] [locations] and [lines]. The code I have written is below.

I have 2 questions:

1) At the moment the code will allow me to create new entries in each list but when I close down Python and restart the program the entries I created are gone. How can I make it so that new entries are permanently stored in the lists? Do I need some kind of database?

2) The code for 6. Storybox - the main thing I want the program to do! - is not working. Any suggestions as to how I can get Python to print a randomly selected entry from each list?

Thanks in advance for your help.

#Storybox program
#Generates a random selection of my story ideas


characters = []
traits = []
locations = []
themes = []
lines = []

choice = None

while choice != "0":

    print(
     """

Storybox:

0 - Exit
1 - Add character
2 - Add trait
3 - Add location
4 - Add theme
5 - Add line
6 - Generate Story
7 - View all entries

"""
)

    choice = input("Choice: ")
    print()


#exit
    if choice == "0":
        print("Goodbye")

#add a character
    elif choice == "1":
        character = input("Enter character: ")
        characters.append(character)

#add a trait
    elif choice == "2":
        trait = input("Enter character trait: ")
        traits.append(trait)

#add a location
    elif choice == "3":
        location = input("Enter location: ")
        locations.append(location)

#add a theme
    elif choice == "4":
        theme = input("Enter theme: ")
        themes.append(theme)

#add good lines
    elif choice == "5":
        line = input("Enter good line: ")
        lines.append(line)


#Generate storybox
    elif choice == "6":
        print("Your storybox is....")
        storyboxcharacter = random.choice(characters)
        print(storyboxcharacter)
        storyboxtrait = random.choice(traits)
        print(storyboxtrait)
        storyboxtheme = random.choice(themes)
        print(storyboxtheme)
        storyboxlocation = random.choice(locations)
        print(storyboxlocation)
        storyboxline = random.choice(lines)
        print(storyboxline)


#Display all entries so far
    elif choice == "7":
        print("Characters:")
        for character in characters:
            print(character)

        print("Traits:")
        for trait in traits:
            print(trait)

        print("Themes:")
        for theme in themes:
            print(theme)

        print("Locations:")
        for location in locations:
            print(location)

        print("Good lines:")
        for line in lines:
            print(line)

input("\n\nPress the enter key to exit.")

1) yes, you need some sort of persistent storage. A database would work, as would a scheme of writing to flat files (csv or pickle, etc). 2) what is not working about it? — tacaswell
– tacaswell, Commented Mar 2, 2013 at 20:19

Matt · Accepted Answer · 2013-03-02 20:27:39Z

1

1) Yes, you'll need to store the data somehow, either in a text file or in a database. The database would be overkill at this point, so I'd recommend something like json.

2) deleted randint solution - random.choice is definitely better

edited Mar 2, 2013 at 20:27

answered Mar 2, 2013 at 20:21

Matt

3231 silver badge6 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

4 Comments

nemo Over a year ago

He's already random.choice, which is far better than your manual approach using randint.

Matt Over a year ago

Ah, I didn't scroll down to see the rest of his code. I hadn't seen random.choice before, thanks.

user2123672 Over a year ago

Thanks for your answers, json looks useful (although will take me a while to work out how to use it). @tcaswell: the problem is that when I enter 6 an error message comes up: Choice: 6 Your storybox is.... Traceback (most recent call last): File "C:\Python31\Storybox", line 69, in <module> storyboxcharacter = random.choice(characters) NameError: name 'random' is not defined >>>

Matt Over a year ago

You have to import the random module by including the line import random at the start of your script.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Python code to generate random entries from multiple lists

1 Answer 1

4 Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

4 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related