Develop Reference

How do I save user input to a text file

I'm trying to create a personnal password vault. Basically I want to create a program that asks me what I want to do and depending on my input (New, or Access "title of website here") the program either lets me add a website title with it's corresponding username and password. Then in I type "Access..." i should get the username and password returned relative to the website's tite I input after the Access input. OFC all of this data is to be stored in a text file.
PROBLEM:
The problem is that when I check the text file, it stays blank. I tried changing the access mode (a, r, etc) and it doesn't work. Not only that, but the program returns only the last data entered, and not whichever data in select.
Keep in mind I'm a beginner.
Below is the code used:
vault = open("Passvault.txt", "a")
total = True
while total == True:
creation = True
action = input("What do you want to do? ")
if action == "New" or action == "new":
title = input("Add website: ")
username = input("Create username: ")
password = input("Create password: ")
vault.write("Title:" + username)
vault.write("\n")
vault.write("Username:" + username)
vault.write("\n")
vault.write("Password:" + password)
elif action == "Access " + title:
print(title)
print("Username: " + username)
print("Password: " + password)
creation = False
elif action == "Close":
creation = False
total = False
vault.close()

First of all, you are not reading the file. Reading AND writing in 'append' ('a') mode is a bad idea (see potential cursor issues).
I tested the code on Google Colab and it works. Note that the writing occurs only if you close the file.
Suggestions:
It is a good time to learn about databases. Even a simple Excel file would fit your goal better (check package csv).
Use 'a+' as the mode of opening the file: if the file does not exist, create it.
Try to open and close the file a bit more frequently, say, each time when you want to write something. Also with clause may be useful (https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/inputoutput.html#reading-and-writing-files)

First of all, where do you define the variable title used in the elif condition. Another that how you are reading the file for title. Third and most important that your problem clearly mentions is that you are not seeing results being saved and that is because you don't close the file instantly and close method actually writes all data and saves the file in the end. Another way to save data before closing the file is by using the flush method.

Try this code:
vault = open("Passvault.txt", "a")
total = True
while total == True:
creation = True
action = input("What do you want to do? ")
if action.lower() == "new":
title = input("Add website: ")
username = input("Create username: ")
password = input("Create password: ")
vault.write("Title:" + username)
vault.write("\n")
vault.write("Username:" + username)
vault.write("\n")
vault.write("Password:" + password)
elif action == "Access " + title:
print(title)
print("Username: " + username)
print("Password: " + password)
creation = False
elif action == "Close":
creation = False
total = False
vault.close()
You didn't close the file at the end.

First of all you seem to be a bit confused how everything is working here so lets me clarify and then I will point out all the problems.
You first create a variable vault and assign it to file opened via append(a) mode.
Now append mode is used generally to append data, here you want to both read and write
data so you need to use read and write permission(r+).
Second , you are trying to create a vault and don't encrypt it any way. the problem is
that anyone can see it as a plain text by opening that file.
Now you set total to True and then use it for infinite while loop.
The problem here is that you can directly do while True so that loop continues
forever and you don't need to assign total a value of True because it doesn't need to
be changed as you can use break keyword to break out of loop. You just wasted memory
by assigning variable to True
Now inside the while loop, you create creation variable but never use it for a purpose, so it is I think not needed or you might have another plan and might use it in the future so I won't say about it.
Now you get input from the user and set it's value to action variable. This step is OK but I wan't to clarify that there are several security problems here but since they are very complex so I won't tell them here but this should be OK.
Now's the time of conditions:
Now in first if condition, you check is action == 'New or action == 'new', here you don't need to includeor` , although that's okay and there is no problem with it, you can do better. .lower() is a string method and it lower cases all the letters of the alphabet.
Either you can do if action.lower() in ['new' , 'create' , 'n' ....all inputs you want ] , note here you dont have to include '.....all inputs you want' , Its just to tell you that you need to put there all inputs on which you want the condition to be true.
Or you can simply do if action.lower() == 'new'
Now only if the condition is true this code runs
You create title variable and set it to user input, now here's too security problem but due to complexity I won't go into much deep. Always remember , wherever you have user interaction with application , there's a chance of security problem there.
Then you get the password and same problem. But also notice that you don't encrypt anything here. That's a big issue.
Now you write everything to the file but be aware that .write() doesn't write directly. You either have to call .flush() or close the file via .close() . But notice the problem , you called .close() but in the very end and out of the infinite while loop. You can tell that that close command is out of while loop by telling that both while loop and close are at the same level. If you have to put it inside while loop, you need to indent it a bit just like other code which is inside while loop. But that is also not gonna work because you close the file and you can't reuse it withot reopening it so either you put both open and close parts inside while loop or you use the .flush() method. This is the biggest bug due to which you are facing such a problem.
Now's the time of elif conditon
Here you see that in the condition you do if action == 'Access ' + title: and there are several problems here.
First you see that you directly compare action to access and you can do it better by using that list trich used in above if condition and can use .lower() method
Second that you use the title variable which notice only get defined when the above if condition runs. What if the above if condition doesn't run and what is the user directly said 'Access Google" or anything accept the above if condition such as "#^%&GJ" . Then elif condition will run and your variable title will not be found by python and then your program will crash. So it is better that you first search that if the input contains Access and the break it into Access And The keyword after it. There are several functions you can use like .strip() or others. Visit this link fore more methods.
Third, you are using the file cursor without being aware of it. Just like cursor in any text editor, the file handler also has a cursor which move foreward as you read the file and in the end it will reach the end of the file and once again you read , it wont return anything since there's nothing ahead of it. To know more about it, visit this link.
And these were the main problems due to which your code is not working correctly
There are also many more problems such as
Your way of reading from file
Your way of writing to the file
No error handling
Your way of closing the file
Your way of handling file
No encryptions
Security problems
Etc.
But for now, that's gonna help you in your task.
Good Luck And Smart Work!

How to use the most recently printed line as an input?

I am trying to create a Twitter bot that posts a random line from a text file. I have gone as far as generating the random lines, which print one at a time, and giving the bot access to my Twitter app, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to use a printed line as a status.
I am using Tweepy. My understanding is that I need to use api.update_status(status=X), but I don't know what X needs to be for the status to match the most recently printed line.
This is the relevant section of what I have so far:
from random import choice
x = 1
while True:
file = open('quotes.txt')
content = file.read()
lines = content.splitlines()
print(choice(lines))
api.update_status(status=(choice(lines)))
time.sleep(3600)
The bot is accessing Twitter no problem. It is currently posting another random quote generated by (choice(lines)), but I'd like it to match what prints immediately before.

I may not fully understand your question, but from the very top, where it says, "How to use the most recently printed line as an input", I think I can answer that. Whenever you use the print() command, store the argument into a string variable that overwrites its last value. Then it saves the last printed value.

Instead of directly printing a choice:
print(choice(lines))
create a new variable and use it in your print() and your api.update_status():
selected_quote = choice(lines)
print(selected_quote)
api.update_status(status=selected_quote)

Modifying code to default to option instead of asking user for selection?

I am not very experienced with python, just trying to make a modification to the code of a program I purchased.
The code runs in the command terminal and its function is to gather data. It gives you the option of gathering the data in either csv or json. It prompts you once with asking which format and a second time for confirmation.
Please enter output format (csv/json)
Do you want to extract data in {} format? (y/n)
I am trying to change this to just do csv by default, and not be prompted for either choosing or confirming
I believe the relevant code from the program is the following ( this isn't all consecutive ). How do I alter the first part to just be 'csv' and do I need to do anything beyond deleting the entire def getConfirmMessage block to wipe that from the code?
if spiderToExecute in range(1, 7):
while True:
outputFormat = click.prompt('Please enter output format (csv/json)', default='csv')
outputFormat = ''.join(outputFormat).lower()
if outputFormat in ['json', 'csv']:
break
settings.set('FEED_FORMAT', outputFormat)
settings.set('FEED_URI', './data/{}.{}'.format(spiderConf['log_output_name_format'], outputFormat))
settings.set('LOG_FILE', './log/{}.log'.format(spiderConf['log_output_name_format']))
def getConfirmMessage(spiderToExecute, outputFormat):
confirmMessages = {
1: 'Do you want to extract data from in {} format ?'.format(outputFormat),
2: 'Do you want to extract data from in {} format ?'.format(outputFormat),
}
return confirmMessages[spiderToExecute]
edit: more code
if not click.confirm(getConfirmMessage(spiderToExecute, outputFormat), default=True):
click.echo()
click.secho(' Please relaunch the command to select new options! ', bg='red')
click.echo()
raise click.Abort()

Complete steps (maybe):
Remove the while loop and replace with outputFormat = "csv".
You should be able to completely remove the code block you posted (if not click.confirm...). If that doesn't work, you'll need to post the code for click.confirm.

Program doesn't append file using variables, but no error message appears

Using Python 3.4.2
I'm working on a quiz system using python. Though it hasn't been efficient, it has been working till now.
Currently, I have a certain user log in, take a quiz, and the results of the quiz get saved to a file for that users results. I tried adding in so that it also saves to a file specific to the subject being tested, but that's where the problem appears.
user_score = str(user_score)
user_score_percentage_str = str(user_score_percentage)
q = open('user '+(username)+' results.txt','a')
q.write(test_choice)
q.write('\n')
q.write(user_score+'/5')
q.write('\n')
q.write(user_score_percentage_str)
q.write('\n')
q.write(user_grade)
q.write('\n')
q.close()
fgh = open(test_choice+'results.txt' ,'a')
fgh.write(username)
fgh.write('\n')
fgh.write(user_score_percentage_str)
fgh.write('\n')
fgh.close
print("Your result is: ", user_score , "which is ", user_score_percentage,"%")
print("Meaning your grade is: ", user_grade)
Start()
Everything for q works (this saves to the results of the user)
However, once it comes to the fgh, the thing doesn't work at all. I receive no error message, however when I go the file, nothing ever appears.
The variables used in the fgh section:
test_choice this should work, since it worked for the q section
username, this should also work since it worked for the q section
user_score_percentage_str and this, once more, should work since it worked for the q section.
I receive no errors, and the code itself doesn't break as it then correctly goes on to print out the last lines and return to Start().
What I would have expected in the file is to be something like:
TestUsername123
80
But instead, the file in question remains blank, leading me to believe there must be something I'm missing regarding working the file.
(Note, I know this code is unefficient, but except this one part it all worked.)
Also, apologies if there's problem with my question layout, it's my first time asking a question.

And as MooingRawr kindly pointed out, it was indeed me being blind.
I forgot the () after the fgh.close.
Problem solved.

Building a ranking list in Python: how to assign scores to contestants?

(I posted this on the wrong section of Stackexchange before, sorry)
I'm working on a assignment which is way above my head. I've tried for days on end figuring out how to do this, but I just can't get it right...
I have to make a ranking list in which I can enter a user, alter the users score, register if he/she payed and display all users in sequence of who has the most score.
The first part I got to work with CSV, I've put only the basic part in here to save space. The menu and import csv have been done: (I had to translate a lot from my native language, sorry if there is a mistake, I know it's a bad habit).
more = True
while more:
print("-" * 40)
firstname = raw_input("What is the first name of the user?: ")
with open("user.txt", "a") as scoreFile:
scoreWrite = csv.writer(scoreFile)
scoreWrite.writerow([firstname, "0", "no"])
scoreFile.close()
mr_dnr = raw_input("Need to enter more people? If so, enter 'yes' \n")
more = mr_dnr in "yes \n"
This way I can enter the name. Now I need a second part (other option in the menu of course) to:
let the user enter the name of the person
after that enter the (new) score of that person.
So it needs to alter the second value in any entry in the csv file ("0") to something the user enters without erasing the name already in the csv file.
Is this even possible? A kind user suggested using SQlite3, but this basic CSV stuff is already stretching it far over my capabilities...

Your friend is right that SQlite3 would be a much better approach to this. If this is stretching your knowledge too far, I suggest having a directory called users and having one file per user. Use JSON (or pickle) to write the user information and overwrite the entire file each time you need to update it.