Comparison of string (read from file) in python not working

Question

I have a text file (buy_sell.txt) containing the word "BOUGHT". No new lines or spaces.

When I try to check if the contents of the file ("BOUGHT") are equal to "BOUGHT" it evaluates to false!

  f = open("buy_sell.txt", "r")
  print(f.read())
  if(f.read() == "BOUGHT"):
    print('works')

How do I get the code to evaluate to true?

The cursor of the file is at the end after you used f.read(). — jizhihaoSAMA
– jizhihaoSAMA, Commented Apr 12, 2020 at 14:49

SteveK · Accepted Answer · 2020-04-12 14:48:56Z

4

Since your file is a single line, you just need to read it once:

f = open("buy_sell.txt", "r")
if f.read() == "BOUGHT":
    print("works")

If you would like to reuse this value later on, just assign it to a variable:

f = open("buy_sell.txt", "r")
my_value = f.read()
if my_value == "BOUGHT":
    print("works")

if my_value != "BOUGHT": 
   print("Must be SOLD!")

answered Apr 12, 2020 at 14:48

SteveK

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1 Comment

Thanks! I thought there was an invisible character read from the file or something