FW: [Tutor] Finding items in list of lists.

[Doug.Shawhan@gecits.ge.com]

Yep. Turns out (surprise) that I wanted python to do my thinking for me. The
following seems to do what I want- 

So sorry to be so confusing. On the bright side, you folks _really_ helped
me with list comprehensions! :-)

(I am posting this from outlook, so I hope the linewrap doesn't look to
bad...)

------------------------snip-------------------------

import string 
import xreadlines 
# Grab data from disk
f=open("\\tmp\\sample.txt","r") 
rawData=[] 
for line in xreadlines.xreadlines(f): 
	rawData.append(string.split(line,'\t')) 
# Get rid of the top "row", since it contains no useful data by default
del rawData[0]
#	We want to sort by the shared value which is in the tenth "column" 
db = {} 
gather = [] 
for lines in rawData:
	parentItem = lines[9] 
	for line in rawData:
		if line[9] == parentItem:
			gather.append(line)
		db[parentItem]=gather
	gather = [] 

#	Now we take the data that have been sorted by parentItem and further
sort them by 
#	what type of item they are. For example, if the line has both a
printer and a duplex unit 
#	therein, the printer and duplex are sorted out and given an entry of
their own. This
#	enables the items to be uploaded into dam with no issues.

cookedData = {} # <-- new dictionary for the second sort.
for each in db.keys():
	sortdb = {} # <-- new dictionary for the item sort
	for item in db[each]:
		sortdb[item[12]] = item
		#	filter out the Printer/Duplex combinations
	if sortdb.has_key('DPLX') and sortdb.has_key('PRT'):
		print '%s printer // duplexer match'%each
		filtered=[sortdb['PRT'], sortdb['DPLX']]
		signify = sortdb['PRT']
		signify = signify[8]
		cookedData[signify]=filtered
		del sortdb['PRT']
		del sortdb['DPLX']
		#	and the Laptop/Keyboard combinations
	elif sortdb.has_key('KBD') and sortdb.has_key('LAP'):
		print '%s laptop // keyboard match'%each
		filtered=[sortdb['LAP'], sortdb['KBD']]
		signify = sortdb['LAP']
		signify = signify[8]
		cookedData[signify]=filtered
		del sortdb['LAP']
		del sortdb['KBD']
		#	now sort out the leftover items (usually Cpu/Monitor
combinations)
	else:
		old_potato = [] # <--A type of leftover (I crack me up.)
		for leftover in sortdb.keys():
			old_potato.append(sortdb[leftover])
	# and finally add the leftovers to the cookedData.
	cookedData[item[8]]=old_potato
	
# Now we place the various data into a single long string suitable for DAM
to ingest
for item in cookedData.keys():
	print item, cookedData[item]

--------------------snip-----------------------

Any suggestions for cleanup or concision are welcomed!

d