Python Forum

New to Python and have a question on usage. I am using Linux. I have a Python 3.11 program that reads, parses, and writes an ics file that works if it is in the same directory as the files. I would like to have it not have to be in the same directory but in the parent directory. Any insights are welcome.

from pathlib import Path ROOT_DIR = Path(__file__).parent ics_file = input('\n ics file name?') if('.ics'not in ics_file): ics_file = ics_file + ".ics" output_file = input('\n csv file name?') if('.csv'not in output_file): output_file = output_file + ".csv" date_range = input('\n date range (YYYYMM)') INPUT_FILE = ROOT_DIR / ics_file OUTPUT_FILE = ROOT_DIR / output_file print(ROOT_DIR) print(INPUT_FILE) print(OUTPUT_FILE) print(ROOT_DIR.parent) if not INPUT_FILE.exists(): print("ICS file not found") TARGET_LINE = 'SUMMARY:' DATE_LINE = 'DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:' fp = open(OUTPUT_FILE,"w") output_lines = [] contents = INPUT_FILE.read_text().strip().splitlines() for line_num, line in enumerate(contents, 1): if line.startswith(DATE_LINE): y = line.strip(DATE_LINE) elif line.startswith(TARGET_LINE): x = line.strip(TARGET_LINE) if(date_range in y): fp.write(str(y)+", ") fp.write(x) fp.write("\n") print('DONE') 

The following will get the absolute paths.
Note that root_dir will get path to the file, including the python file name.
If you just wanted the current path, use root_dir = Path('.')
You would also have to assure that the current path is the the same as __file__ path.
You can still use __file__. but to get previous directory,would need parent_dir = root_dir.parent.parent.absolute()

root_dir = Path(__file__).absolute() print(root_dir) parent_dir = root_dir.parent.absolute() print(parent_dir)

(Mar-29-2024, 12:03 AM)franklin97355 Wrote: [ -> ]Any insights are welcome.

I would rather use the builtin argparse module to handle the arguments instead of having user interaction. For example you could invoke

Output:
python franklin.py -m 202403 -o ../foo/ham.csv spam.ics

Among other benefits, this allows you to invoke the program in a makefile for example. Here is a possible version

from argparse import ArgumentParser from pathlib import Path import sys TARGET_LINE = "SUMMARY:" DATE_LINE = "DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:" parser = ArgumentParser(description='Convert .ics file into .csv') parser.add_argument( "-o", "--outfile", dest="outfile", default="", action="store", required=False, help="Destination CSV file, defaults to stdout", metavar="OUTFILE", ) parser.add_argument( "-m", "--month", dest="month", action="store", required=True, help="Month in format YYYYMM", metavar="YYYYMM", ) parser.add_argument(dest="infile", help="Source ICS file", metavar="INFILE") def process_lines(lines, date_range, fp): for line_num, line in enumerate(lines, 1): if line.startswith(DATE_LINE): y = line.strip(DATE_LINE) elif line.startswith(TARGET_LINE): x = line.strip(TARGET_LINE) if date_range in y: fp.write(str(y) + ", ") fp.write(x) fp.write("\n") def main(): args = parser.parse_args() print(args) if not args.infile.endswith(".ics"): args.infile = args.infile + ".ics" infile = Path(args.infile) if not infile.is_file(): print(f"Error: ICS file not found: {args.infile}", file=sys.stderr) return 1 lines = infile.read_text().strip().splitlines() if args.outfile: if not args.outfile.endswith(".csv"): args.outfile = args.outfile + ".csv" with open(args.outfile, "w") as ofp: process_lines(lines, args.month, ofp) print(f"Output written to: {args.outfile}") else: process_lines(lines, args.month, sys.stdout) return 0 if __name__ == "__main__": sys.exit(main())

Here is the help automatically generated by this program

Output:
λ python paillasse/pf/franklin97355.py -h usage: franklin97355.py [-h] [-o OUTFILE] -m YYYYMM INFILE Convert .ics file into .csv positional arguments: INFILE Source ICS file options: -h, --help show this help message and exit -o OUTFILE, --outfile OUTFILE Destination CSV file, defaults to stdout -m YYYYMM, --month YYYYMM Month in format YYYYMM

Thank you, I was remiss in not checking my forum posts. Now I will check your suggestions and see if I can make heads or tails out of that. Again thanks to you two.