Newbie..Needs Help

[Anthra Norell]

Graham,

Would it help to use another web site? Not as long as the program works on this site. If it doesn't it may help to change sites, but
a new reader would have to be crafted. Towards this my code may look intimidating. It isn't really a good example for a demo,
because it looks scary. As I said, I experimentally stretched the envelope.
      The trick is to develop incrementally, one step at a time, look at the result of each stage, recognize what needs to be done
next and add missing definitions or add a subsequent translation step. In this manner a complex system can be built. SE is
particualry accommodating in this respect. You can test an Editor object in seconds on the IDLE command line, e.g.:

      >>> s = 'Total: $1,234.55  (-6.7)'

      >>> print SE.SE ('"$=USD " ,=\' .=, ":=   "  )=%)') (s)
      Total    USD 1'234,55  (-6,7%)

It also helps to read  SE-DOC.HTM which explains a host of basic techniques.

Glad to help

Frederic

----- Original Message -----
From: "Graham Feeley" <grahamjfeeley at optusnet.com.au>
Newsgroups: comp.lang.python
To: <python-list at python.org>
Sent: Sunday, July 30, 2006 5:55 AM
Subject: Re: Newbie..Needs Help


> Well Well Well, Anthra you are a clever person, Are
> nt you!!!!
> I nearly fell over when i read your post.
> Would it help if we used another web site to gather data????
> As you stated the tables are not all that well structured.
> well I will give thisone  a go first and if there is anything I can do for
> you just ask and I will try my best.
> I really appreciate what you have done.
> Of course I will try to follow your code to see if any will fall on
> me....LOL
> Regards
> Graham
>
> "Anthra Norell" <anthra.norell at tiscalinet.ch> wrote in message
> news:mailman.8704.1154205950.27775.python-list at python.org...
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Graham Feeley" <grahamjfeeley at optusnet.com.au>
> > Newsgroups: comp.lang.python
> > To: <python-list at python.org>
> > Sent: Friday, July 28, 2006 5:11 PM
> > Subject: Re: Newbie..Needs Help
> >
> >
> >> Thanks Nick for the reply
> >> Of course my first post was a general posting to see if someone would be
> >> able to help
> >> here is the website which holds the data I require
> >> http://www.aapracingandsports.com.au/racing/raceresultsonly.asp?storydate=27/07/2006&meetings=bdgo
> >>
> >> The fields required are as follows
> >>  NSW Tab
> >> #      Win      Place
> >>  2    $4.60   $2.40
> >>  5                $2.70
> >>  1                $1.30
> >>  Quin    $23.00
> >>  Tri  $120.70
> >> Field names are
> >> Date   ( not important )
> >> Track................= Bendigo
> >> RaceNo............on web page
> >> Res1st...............2
> >> Res2nd..............5
> >> Res3rd..............1
> >> Div1..................$4.60
> >> DivPlc...............$2.40
> >> Div2..................$2.70
> >> Div3..................$1.30
> >> DivQuin.............$23.00
> >> DivTrif...............$120.70
> >> As you can see there are a total of 6 meetings involved and I would need
> >> to
> >> put in this parameter ( =bdgo) or (=gosf) these are the meeting tracks
> >>
> >> Hope this more enlightening
> >> Regards
> >> graham
> >>
> >
> > Graham,
> >
> > Only a few days ago I gave someone a push who had a very similar problem.
> > I handed him code ready to run. I am doing it again for
> > you.
> >      The site you use is much harder to interpret than the other one was
> > and so I took the opportunity to experimentally stretch
> > the envelope of a new brain child of mine: a stream editor called SE. It
> > is new and so I also take the opportunity to demo it.
> >      One correspondent in the previous exchange was Paul McGuire, the
> > author of 'pyparse'. He made a good case for using 'pyparse'
> > in situations like yours. Unlike a stream editor, a parser reads structure
> > in addition to data and can relate the data to its
> > context.
> >      Anlayzing the tables I noticed that they are poorly structured: The
> > first column contains both data and ids. Some records are
> > shorter than others, so column ids have to be guessed and hard coded.
> > Missing data sometimes is a dash, sometimes nothing. The
> > inconsistencies seem to be consistent, though, down the eight tables of
> > the page. So they can be formalized with some confidence
> > that they are systematic. If Paul could spend some time on this, I'd be
> > much interested to see how he would handle the relative
> > disorder.
> >      Another thought: The time one invests in developing a program should
> > not exceed the time it can save overall (not talking
> > about recreational programming). Web pages justify an extra measure of
> > caution, because they may change any time and when they do
> > they impose an unscheduled priority every time the reader stops working
> > and requires a revision.
> >
> > So, here is your program. I write it so you can copy the whole thing to a
> > file. Next copy SE from the Cheese Shop. Unzip it and put
> > both SE.PY and SEL.PY where your Python progams are. Then 'execfile' the
> > code in an IDLE window, call 'display_horse_race_data
> > ('Bendigo', '27/07/2006') and see what happens. You'll have to wait ten
> > seconds or so.
> >
> > Regards
> >
> > Frederic
> >
> > ######################################################################################
> >

..... etc.