More On the Strange Problem

[MRAB]

Victor Subervi wrote:
> I've isolated the problem in the print-out at the bottom of this post. 
> It occurs when these values are passed:
> 
> ['LastDatePrice', 'date', '10', 'yyyy/mm/dd', None],
> 
> Since this is the first datetime that is passed, it would appear to be 
> associated with such values, which are processed thus:
> 
>     elif typeName == 'datetime':

Where does the value of typeName come from?

>       print "<input type='text' width='%s' maxlength='%s' name='%s' 
> value='%s' /> " \
>         "<i>This field takes a datetime up to %s alphanumeric characters 
> inclusive.</i>" \
>         % (shortNum, str(typeNum), colName, theVal, str(typeNum))
> 
> colName == 'LastDatePrice'
> typeNum = 10
> 
>       elif 10 < int(typeNum) < 20:

If typeNum is 10 then 10 < int(typeNum) < 20 is False.

>         shortNum = '10'
> 
> Therefore...
> shortNum = '10'
> 
>     if whatDo == 'insert':
>       theVal = defaultVal
>       val = defaultVal
> 
What's the difference between theVal and val? The names don't help me!
:-)

> Since whatDo == 'insert'...
> and
> val = 'yyyy/mm/dd'
> therefore
> theVal = None
> 
> Now, this value of None doesn't cause any problems with the other values 
> printed out. This is the code:
> 
>   print 'printTheForm: ', descrProds, '<br />'
>   for value in descrProds:
>     print 'value: ', value, '<br />'
> 
> that produces this print-out:
> 
> printTheForm: [['ID', 'tinyint', '5', '0', None], ['SKU', 'varchar', 
> '40', '', None], ['Category', 'varchar', '40', '', None], ['Name', 
> 'varchar', '50', '', None], ['Title', 'varchar', '100', '', None], 
> ['Description', 'mediumtext', '100', '', None], ['Price', 'float', '8', 
> '0.0', None], ['SortFactor', 'int', '4', '0', None], ['Availability', 
> 'tinyint', '1', '0', '1'], ['OutOfStock', 'tinyint', '1', '0', '0'], 
> ['ShipFlatFee', 'float', '5', '0.0', '0.00'], ['ShipPercentPrice', 
> 'tinyint', '2', '0', '0'], ['ShipPercentWeight', 'tinyint', '2', '0', 
> '0'], ['Associations', 'varchar', '40', '', None], ['TempPrice', 
> 'tinyint', '1', '0', None], ['LastDatePrice', 'date', '10', 
> 'yyyy/mm/dd', None], ['Weight', 'float', '7', '0.0', None], ['Metal', 
> 'enum', ['14k gold', '18k gold', 'white gold', 'silver', 'tungsten', 
> 'titanium'], '', None], ['PercentMetal', 'tinyint', '2', '0', None], 
> ['colorsShadesNumbersShort', 'set', [''], '', None]]
> value: ['ID', 'tinyint', '5', '0', None]
> value: ['SKU', 'varchar', '40', '', None]
> value: ['Category', 'varchar', '40', '', None]
> value: ['Name', 'varchar', '50', '', None]
> value: ['Title', 'varchar', '100', '', None]
> value: ['Description', 'mediumtext', '100', '', None]
> value: ['Price', 'float', '8', '0.0', None]
> value: ['SortFactor', 'int', '4', '0', None]
> value: ['Availability', 'tinyint', '1', '0', '1']
> value: ['OutOfStock', 'tinyint', '1', '0', '0']
> value: ['ShipFlatFee', 'float', '5', '0.0', '0.00']
> value: ['ShipPercentPrice', 'tinyint', '2', '0', '0']
> value: ['ShipPercentWeight', 'tinyint', '2', '0', '0']
> value: ['Associations', 'varchar', '40', '', None]
> value: ['TempPrice', 'tinyint', '1', '0', None]
> value: ['LastDatePrice', 'date', '10', 'yyyy/mm/dd', None]
> 
> If in fact the problem has to do with the None value, how can I easily 
> substitute a different value? I tried:
> 
> if theVal == None:

The Pythonic way is to use "is" when comparing with singletons like
None.

>   theVal = ''
> 
> but that didn't capture it.
> 
What do you mean by "didn't capture it"?