[Tutor] Having trouble with a component of the random module

[W W]

On Thu, Aug 28, 2008 at 1:33 AM, Alan Gilfoy <agilfoy at frontiernet.net>wrote:

>
> The number of items I want from a list is smaller than the population
> (number of items) in the list, so it should work.
>
> In this specific case, I'm asking for one item from a five-item list.


Are you sure?

change this:
 for card in random.sample(SpecialA, SA):

to this:

print "Special: ", SpecialA, "\nSA: ", SA
for card in random.sample(SpecialA, SA):

then give us the output. I'll bet that your SA value is never reset to 1.


> Overall, more code is involved that I think can be represented in a few
> cut'n'paste snippets; how would I go about providing the files in question
> for interested parties to look at?


http://paste.pocoo.org I believe.


>
> (There's the Python file for my front-end UI code, the Python module file
> for my processing function, and the relevant text files)
>
> Apologizing for message length; I'm just trying to clearly explain the
> problem that I want assistance on.


You've obviously researched enough to know this:
>>> mylist = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
>>> from random import sample
>>> sample(mylist, 3)
[2, 1, 4]
>>> sample(mylist, 10)
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/random.py", line 303, in sample
    raise ValueError, "sample larger than population"
ValueError: sample larger than population


So give the print statement before your for loop a try and see what you come
up with.

HTH,
Wayne

-- 
To be considered stupid and to be told so is more painful than being called
gluttonous, mendacious, violent, lascivious, lazy, cowardly: every weakness,
every vice, has found its defenders, its rhetoric, its ennoblement and
exaltation, but stupidity hasn't. - Primo Levi
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