==== Python Coding Notes ====

__Handling arguments__

  import argparse
  
  parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='Collect arguments')
  parser.add_argument("-t", required=True, type=str, help="Train number")
  parser.add_argument("-s", required=True, type=str, help="Station")
  parser.add_argument("-d", required=True, type=str, help="Date")
  
  args = parser.parse_args()
  
  train_num = args.t
  station = args.s
  date = args.d
  
  print(train_num)
  print(station)
  print(date)
  
__Date and time strings__

See format codes [[https://docs.python.org/3/library/datetime.html#strftime-and-strptime-format-codes|here]] and [[https://strftime.org/|here]]
  
  from datetime import datetime
  
  date_time_str = '2020-09-07T00:27:00-04:00'
  date_time_str = date_time_str[:-6]
  date_time_obj = datetime.strptime(date_time_str, '%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S')
  #print("The type of the date is now",  type(date_time_obj))
  #print("The date is", date_time_obj)
  date_time_str_format = date_time_obj.strftime('%I:%M %P')
  print(date_time_str_format)

__Checking and matching stuff in strings__

[[https://thispointer.com/python-check-if-a-string-contains-a-sub-string-find-its-index-case-insensitive/|String Matches]]

  status = "Service disruption"
  if "Disruption".lower() in status.lower():
    print('SD so exiting')
    
__Writing to files__

[[https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/how-to-open-and-close-a-file-in-python/|See file handling tips]]

  outputFileName = 'status_out_' + train_num + '_' + station + '.txt'
  outputFile = open(outputFileName, 'w')
  print(url, file=outputFile)
  outputFile.close
  
__Logging__
  
[[https://docs.python.org/3/howto/logging.html|Logging in python]]

  logging.basicConfig(format='%(asctime)s %(message)s', filename=log_file, level=logging.DEBUG)
  logging.debug('This message should go to the log file')
  logging.info('So should this')
  logging.warning('And this, too')


[[https://realpython.com/python-pep8/|Write beautiful python code with PEP-8]]

__Working with JSON__

  * Use PyPi [[https://pypi.org/project/dictor/|dictor]]
  * Use PyPi (from [[https://pypi.org/project/demjson/|demjson]] which includes JSON Lint to check for valid JSON code and make fixes
    * sudo pip install demjson
     * installs into /usr/local/bin/jsonlint
    * jsonlint data.json
    * jsonlint --help