[Tutor] manipulating data

[ALAN GAULD]

Brian,

>     if line.split()[0] == 'Field':
>        field = int(line.split()[-1])
>
> IndexError: list index out of range


You have blank lines in the file, when you try to call split 
on an empty string you get an empty list so trying to 
index any element will result in an Index error.

That's why I suggested using exceptions, testing for 
every possible error condition could take a long time
and be error prone. Unfortunately I guessed the wrong 
error code and didn't realise you had some dross to 
wade through first... so its a wee bit more complex.

Personally I'd use a flag to detect when field had 
been found and set - ie set field to None and then 
test for that changing, then test for Leaf as you do.

So I think your algorithm should be

for line in file
    if 'Field' in line:
       field = int(line.split()[-1])
    elif 'Leaf' in line:
       fields[field] = line.split()[-1]
    else: file.next()

But I think there's another problem in that you are 
then overwriting the value of Leaf when I think you 
are trying to build a list? I'm not 100% sure what 
you are aiming for but hopefully its some help!

Alan G.