[Tutor] input() and raw_input()

[John Precedo]

Henry [porterh@m-net.arbornet.org] asked:
> I'm taking a number as input from the user and
> attempting to do a comparison on it:
>
> selection = raw_input('Enter number: ')
> if selection < 3:
> 	print 'Invalid number'
> else:
> 	print 'OK number'
>
> The comparison works using input() but doesn't when using
> raw_input() -- it always drops to the 'else:'.

I see your problem. Have a look at this snippet:

  >>> x = input ("give me a number: ")
  give me a number: 10
  >>> print x
  10
  >>> print type(x)
  <type 'int'>
  >>> y = raw_input("give me another number: ")
  give me another number: 20
  >>> print y
  20
  >>> print type(y)
  <type 'string'>
  >>> z = int(y)
  >>> print z
  20
  >>> print type(z)
  <type 'int'>
  >>>

So, input is returning an integer, but raw input is
returning a string.

You could do this to fix it - replace the first line with
these two:
  selection = raw_input('Enter number: ')
  selection = int(selection)

The 'int' bit converts your string into an integer so you
can do tests on it.

It _should_ work.

--
John Precedo   (johnp@reportlab.com)
Junior Developer,   Reportlab, Inc