Script Discussion & Critique

[mackstann]

Looks good, there is one small bug and a couple very minor things that
basically boil down to style and personal preference.

-----------------------------------------------------------

import os # no need for string

# this can just go in one print with triple quotes
print """
******************************************************
   Three Easy Steps to a Recursive find and Replace   
******************************************************
"""

x = raw_input("1. Enter the string that you'd like to find: ")

# if you just want a newline, you can just do a print by itself
print

y = raw_input("2. What would you like to replace %s with: " %x)
print

setpath = raw_input("3. Enter the path where the prgroam should run: ")
print

for root, dirs, files in os.walk(setpath):
   fname = files # what's this for?  fname will just get reassigned on
                 # the next line.
   for fname in files:
      inputFile = file(os.path.join(root,fname), 'r')
      data = inputFile.read()
      inputFile.close()
      search = data.find(x) # .find is a method of str, you don't need
                            # the string module for it.

      # bug
      #if search >=1: # this won't find it at the beginning of the file.

      if search >= 0: # change to this (find returns -1 when it finds
                      # nothing)
         data = data.replace(x, y)
         outputFile = file(os.path.join(root,fname), 'w')
         outputFile.write(data)
         outputFile.close()
         print "Replacing", x, "with", y, "in", fname


# You could also do something like this to print out the centered
# messages:

print "*"*10
print "Done".center(10)
print "*"*10

-----------------------------------------------------------

HTH,
-- 
m a c k s t a n n  mack @ incise.org  http://incise.org
Dentist, n.:
	A Prestidigitator who, putting metal in one's mouth, pulls
coins out of one's pockets.
		-- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"