Decimals -> Fraction strings, my solution

[Gregory Tucker]

I am relatively new to Python, having once tried (and failed) to learn Java.

About Python I find it particularly exciting that I can actually save and
execute Python code such as this, and experiment with it on my own, using
nothing but a standard text editor (GVIM). Languages like Java or C++
typically require one to open an IDE, create a project, drag a few buttons,
insert code, save, compile, etc. 

Now I feel that even I can participate in these discussions.

Regards,
Greg

Scott wrote:
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> I've come up with one solution to my problem. Its probably quite
> inefficient, but it does what I need for now.  Feel free to
> tear it apart and/or give any advice on how to better implement it.
> This code will take either a number or a string (ie '0.5') and return
> a string of the fraction (ie '1/2').  Here it is:
> 
> #!/usr/bin/env python
> # fract.py convert numbers/decimal strings to fraction strings
> 
> import string
> 
> def plist (num):
>     """Returns a list of numbers that evenly divide into num.
>     This is seems quite inefficient and probably should be changed"""
>     p = []
>     for x in range (2, num+1):
>         if num % x == 0:
>             p.append (x)
>     p.append (num)
>     return p
> 
> def gcd (numer, denom):
>     """Return the greatest common denominator of two numbers"""
>     if denom % numer == 0:
>         return numer
> 
>     p1 = plist (numer)
>     p2 = plist (denom)
>     p1.reverse ()
>     for x in p1:
>         if x in p2:
>             return x
> 
> def coerce (num):
>     """Coerce a string into a number.  If not, return 0"""
>     try:
>         n = string.atoi (num)
>     except ValueError:
>         n = 0
>     except TypeError:
>         n = 0
>     return n
> 
> def makefract (dec):
>     """Makes a fractional string from a decimial number
>     passed in string or numerical format"""
> 
>     if type (dec) == type (''):
>         if string.find (dec, '.') < 0:
>             return dec
> 
>         whole_str, frac_str = string.split (dec, '.')
> 
>         whole = coerce (whole_str)
>         numer = coerce (frac_str)
> 
>         denom = pow (10, len (frac_str))
> 
>     else:
>         if type(dec) == type(0):
>             return str (dec)
> 
>         whole = int (dec)
>         if dec - whole:
>             numer = int ((dec - int (dec)) * \
>                          (pow (10, len (str(dec-int(dec)))-2)))
>             denom = pow (10, len (str (numer)))
>         else:
>             numer = 0
>             denom = 0
> 
>     if numer == 0 and whole == 0:
>         return '0'
>     if numer == 0:
>         return '%d' % whole
> 
>     gd = gcd (numer, denom)
> 
>     numer = numer/gd
>     denom = denom/gd
> 
>     if whole:
>         return '%d %d/%d' % (whole, numer, denom)
>     else:
>         return '%d/%d' % (numer, denom)
> 
> if __name__ == '__main__':
> 
>     print '0.5625  : ',
>     print makefract ('0.5625')
> 
>     print '69.4375 : ',
>     print makefract (69.4375)
> 
>     print '35      : ',
>     print makefract (35)
> 
>     print '38.0    : ',
>     print makefract (38.0)
> 
> --
> http://www.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list

-- 
    ___	____	
   /     /	Gregory Tucker, Tokyo, Japan
  /__   /	Email: mailto:tuckerg at acm.org
 /  /  /	
/__/  /		I call him free who is led solely by reason. - Spinoza