Combining several text files

[MRAB]

Eric wrote:
 > This is my first post, so please advise if I'm not using proper
 > etiquette. I've actually searched around a bit and while I think I can
 > do this, I can't think of a clean elegant way. I'm pretty new to
 > Python, but from what I've learned so far is that there is almost
 > always an easier way.
 >
 > I have to parse several log files. I've already written a working
 > parser. The log files are simple text files that when they get to a
 > certain size are renamed to append a number. So, you might end up
 > with:
 >
 > filename.log.2
 > filename.log.1
 > filename.log
 >
 > The higher the number, the older the file. I want to search for all
 > the files in a directory with "filename.log" as part of their name.
 > Then I can do one of two things. First I could combine them so that
 > the resulting file ends up with the oldest on top and newest on the
 > bottom. Otherwise, I could just iterate over the multiple files within
 > my parser.
 >
 > I don't need working code (that makes things too easy), just clear
 > suggestions to a Python newcomer to speed me on my way.
 >
My suggestion is to list the filenames, sort them into descending order
by the suffix (converted to an int) (treat an unnumbered filename as one
having the suffix ".0"), and then parse them in the resulting order.