Re: how to iterate over sequence and non-sequence ?

2007-10-20 Thread stef mientki
Paul Hankin wrote:
 On Oct 19, 5:38 pm, stef mientki [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
   
 ... snip hand-coded debugger
 I couldn't come up with a better solution ;-)
 

 Does pdb not suffice?
   
thanks very much Paul,
Never heard of that before,
I looked it up, just 1 page in my book of 500 pages ;-)
I'm certainly going to study that.

 Even if it doesn't; you can look up variables without using exec,
 using locals()['x'] or globals()['x']

   
Didn't know that either,
I'll try.

thanks,
Stef Mientki
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 Paul Hankin

   

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Re: how to iterate over sequence and non-sequence ?

2007-10-20 Thread stef mientki
snip
 def user_program():
   x = 5; _debug(2)
   global x,i
   _debug (3)
   for i in xrange(10):
   _debug (3)
   x = x + 1; _debug (4)
 

 You do know that Python exposes all of it's compilation / AST / whatever 
 machinery, don't you ? IOW, you can take a textual program, compile it 
 to a code object, play with the AST, add debug hooks, etc... Perhaps you 
 should spend a little more time studying the modules index ?
   
thanks Bruno,
but you're talking about terminology I don't know:
compilation / AST / IOW / module index ???

But to be honest it's not my main goal.
My goal is to write a functional simulator.
You can compare it with a little travelling,
I want to go from A to B.
Normally I'ld travel by bus or train,
but in this case there isn't going a bus to B.
So in this case I take a car,
ask someone how to start it,
and drive to B.

But anyway thanks very much for this and other answers.
cheers,
Stef Mientki


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Re: how to iterate over sequence and non-sequence ?

2007-10-20 Thread stef mientki
Steven D'Aprano wrote:
 On Fri, 19 Oct 2007 18:38:06 +0200, stef mientki wrote:

   
 I don't have pointers, I've just names (at least I think). Let me
 explain a little bit more,
 I want to simulate / debug a user program, the user program might look
 like this:

x = 5
for i in xrange(10):
x = x + 1
 


 I thought you were writing a JAL interpreter:

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JAL_(compiler)

   
hi Steven, you're completely right,
in fact I want to some more: also taken hardware and physics into account.
You can see one of my first demo's here, to see what I mean:
   http://stef.mientki.googlepages.com/jalspy_demo_robot1a.html
and some more demos can be found over here:
   
http://oase.uci.kun.nl/~mientki/data_www/pic/jalspy/jalspy_animated_demos.html
In fact we already used the simulator a number of times in real 
applications with great success,
but didn't release it yet, because you still need Python knowledge to 
run it reliable.
 but the code above is Python.
   
Yes, right again ;-)
The simulator translates JAL into Python,
In the beginning I thought that was the easiest,
I'm not sure about that anymore at the moment,
but on the other hand that's just replacing one module.
 Python already has a debugger. Try this:

 import pdb
 help(pdb)

   
Yes, Paul also pointed me into that direction,
and to be honest, I expected there would be such a module,
but I never searched for it, because 
If I see that I can cook dinner,
when I (very seldom) test the program  (I'm writing) in the debug mode,
(assuming the IDE uses the same pdb),
then this is far too slow :-(

I'll report back what my experiences are with pdb.

cheers,
Stef Mientki



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how to iterate over sequence and non-sequence ?

2007-10-19 Thread stef mientki
hello,

I generate dynamically a sequence of values,
but this sequence could also have length 1 or even length 0.

So I get some line in the form of:
  line = '(2,3,4)'
  line = ''
  line = '(2)'
(in fact these are not constant numbers, but all kind of integer 
variables, coming from all over the program, selected from a tree, that 
shows all reachable variables)

So in fact I get the value from an exec statement, like this
  exec 'signals = ' + line

Now I want to iterate over signals, which works perfect if there are 2 
or more signals,
but it fails when I have none or just 1 signal.
for value in signals :
do something

As this meant for real-time signals, I want it fast, so (I think) I 
can't afford extensive testing.

Any smart solution there ?

thanks,
Stef Mientki
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Re: how to iterate over sequence and non-sequence ?

2007-10-19 Thread stef
Paul Hankin wrote:
 On Oct 19, 12:24 am, stef mientki [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
   
 I generate dynamically a sequence of values,
 but this sequence could also have length 1 or even length 0.

 So I get some line in the form of:
   line = '(2,3,4)'
   line = ''
   line = '(2)'
 (in fact these are not constant numbers, but all kind of integer
 variables, coming from all over the program, selected from a tree, that
 shows all reachable variables)

 So in fact I get the value from an exec statement, like this
   exec 'signals = ' + line

 Now I want to iterate over signals, which works perfect if there are 2
 or more signals,
 but it fails when I have none or just 1 signal.
 for value in signals :
 do something

 As this meant for real-time signals, I want it fast, so (I think) I
 can't afford extensive testing.

 Any smart solution there ?
 

 First: don't collect data into strings - python has many container
 types which you can use.
   
Well I'm not collecting data, I'm collecting pointers to data.
This program simulates a user written program in JAL.
As Python doesn't support pointers, instead I collect names.
The names are derived from an analysis of the user program under test,
so the danger some of you are referring to, is not there,
or at least is not that simple.
Besides it's a local application where the goal is to let a user test 
his program (and hardware),
so if the user want to hack, he can better type directly format c:\.

 Next, your strings look like they're supposed to contain tuples. In
 fact, tuples are a bit awkward sometimes because you have to use
 '(a,') for a tuple with one element - (2) isn't a tuple of length one,
 it's the same as 2. Either cope with this special case, or use lists.
 Either way, you'll have to use () or [] for an empty sequence.
   
Of course, thanks Paul,
if I change tuple to list, everything works ok, even with empty lists.

cheers,
Stef Mientki
 --
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Re: how to iterate over sequence and non-sequence ?

2007-10-19 Thread Bruno Desthuilliers
stef mientki a écrit :
 Steven D'Aprano wrote:
 
 On Fri, 19 Oct 2007 16:19:32 +0200, stef wrote:

  

 Well I'm not collecting data, I'm collecting pointers to data.
 


 I beg to differ, you're collecting data. How that data is to be 
 interpreted (a string, a number, a pointer...) is a separate issue.


  

 This
 program simulates a user written program in JAL. As Python doesn't
 support pointers, instead I collect names.
 


 This doesn't make any sense to me. If your user-written program is 
 supplying pointers (that is, memory addresses like 0x15A8), how do you 
 get a name from the memory address?


 If you are trying to emulate pointer-manipulation, then the usual way 
 to simulate a pointer is with an integer offset into an array:

 # initialise your memory space to all zeroes:
 memory = [chr(0)]*1024*64  # 64K of memory space, enough for anyone
 NULL = 0
 pointer = 45
 memory[pointer:pointer + 5] = 'HELLO'
 pointer += 6
 memory[pointer:pointer + 5] = 'WORLD'


   
 
 If there is a better way, I'ld like to hear it.
 I understand that execute is dangerous.
 
 I don't have pointers, I've just names (at least I think).
 Let me explain a little bit more,
 I want to simulate / debug a user program,
 the user program might look like this:
 
   x = 5
   for i in xrange(10):
   x = x + 1
 
 So now I want to follow the changes in x and i,
 therefor in the background I change the user program a little bit, like 
 this
 
 def user_program():
   x = 5; _debug(2)
   global x,i
   _debug (3)
   for i in xrange(10):
   _debug (3)
   x = x + 1; _debug (4)

You do know that Python exposes all of it's compilation / AST / whatever 
machinery, don't you ? IOW, you can take a textual program, compile it 
to a code object, play with the AST, add debug hooks, etc... Perhaps you 
should spend a little more time studying the modules index ?
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Re: how to iterate over sequence and non-sequence ?

2007-10-19 Thread stef mientki
Steven D'Aprano wrote:
 On Fri, 19 Oct 2007 16:19:32 +0200, stef wrote:

   
 Well I'm not collecting data, I'm collecting pointers to data.
 

 I beg to differ, you're collecting data. How that data is to be 
 interpreted (a string, a number, a pointer...) is a separate issue.


   
 This
 program simulates a user written program in JAL. As Python doesn't
 support pointers, instead I collect names.
 

 This doesn't make any sense to me. If your user-written program is 
 supplying pointers (that is, memory addresses like 0x15A8), how do you 
 get a name from the memory address?


 If you are trying to emulate pointer-manipulation, then the usual way to 
 simulate a pointer is with an integer offset into an array:

 # initialise your memory space to all zeroes:
 memory = [chr(0)]*1024*64  # 64K of memory space, enough for anyone
 NULL = 0
 pointer = 45
 memory[pointer:pointer + 5] = 'HELLO'
 pointer += 6
 memory[pointer:pointer + 5] = 'WORLD'


   
If there is a better way, I'ld like to hear it.
I understand that execute is dangerous.

I don't have pointers, I've just names (at least I think).
Let me explain a little bit more,
I want to simulate / debug a user program,
the user program might look like this:

   x = 5
   for i in xrange(10):
   x = x + 1

So now I want to follow the changes in x and i,
therefor in the background I change the user program a little bit, like 
this

def user_program():
   x = 5; _debug(2)
   global x,i
   _debug (3)
   for i in xrange(10):
   _debug (3)
   x = x + 1; _debug (4)

And this modified user program is now called by the main program.
Now in the _debug procedure I can set breakpoints and watch x and i.
But as in this case both a and i are simple integers,
I can not reference them and I need to get their values through their 
names,
and thus a execute statement.

I couldn't come up with a better solution ;-)
(There may be no restrictions laid upon the user program, and indeed 
name clashing is an accepted risk).

cheers,
Stef




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Re: how to iterate over sequence and non-sequence ?

2007-10-19 Thread Steven D'Aprano
On Fri, 19 Oct 2007 16:19:32 +0200, stef wrote:

 Well I'm not collecting data, I'm collecting pointers to data.

I beg to differ, you're collecting data. How that data is to be 
interpreted (a string, a number, a pointer...) is a separate issue.


 This
 program simulates a user written program in JAL. As Python doesn't
 support pointers, instead I collect names.

This doesn't make any sense to me. If your user-written program is 
supplying pointers (that is, memory addresses like 0x15A8), how do you 
get a name from the memory address?


If you are trying to emulate pointer-manipulation, then the usual way to 
simulate a pointer is with an integer offset into an array:

# initialise your memory space to all zeroes:
memory = [chr(0)]*1024*64  # 64K of memory space, enough for anyone
NULL = 0
pointer = 45
memory[pointer:pointer + 5] = 'HELLO'
pointer += 6
memory[pointer:pointer + 5] = 'WORLD'


 The names are derived from an
 analysis of the user program under test, so the danger some of you are
 referring to, is not there, or at least is not that simple.

What about accidental clashes between your program's names and the names 
you are collecting? Are you sure there are no corner cases where 
something you pass to exec can interact badly with your code?

The thing is, exec is stomping through your program's namespace with 
great big steel-capped boots, crushing anything that gets in the way. 
Even if it is safe in your specific example, it is still bad practice, or 
at least risky practice. Code gets reused, copied, and one day a piece of 
code you wrote for the JAL project ends up running on a webserver and now 
you have a serious security hole.

(Every security hole ever started off with a programmer thinking This is 
perfectly safe to do.)

But more importantly, what makes you think that exec is going to be 
faster and more efficient than the alternatives? By my simple test, I 
find exec to be about a hundred times slower than directly executing the 
same code:

 timeit.Timer(a = 1).timeit()
0.26714611053466797
 timeit.Timer(exec s, s = 'a = 1').timeit()
25.963317155838013


-- 
Steven
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Re: how to iterate over sequence and non-sequence ?

2007-10-19 Thread Duncan Booth
Nils [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 why not:
 for i in eval('(1,2,3)'):
 ... print i
 1
 2
 3
 

For the exact same reason Steven already gave you: one day someone will 
give you bad data.

For eval you need to use slightly more complicated expressions. e.g. 
__import__('os').system('rm # -rf /')
will be sufficient to mess you up.

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Re: how to iterate over sequence and non-sequence ?

2007-10-19 Thread Nils
On Oct 19, 10:58 am, Steven D'Aprano
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 On Fri, 19 Oct 2007 01:24:09 +0200, stef mientki wrote:
  hello,

  I generate dynamically a sequence of values, but this sequence could
  also have length 1 or even length 0.

  So I get some line in the form of:
line = '(2,3,4)'
line = ''
line = '(2)'
  (in fact these are not constant numbers, but all kind of integer
  variables, coming from all over the program, selected from a tree, that
  shows all reachable variables)

  So in fact I get the value from an exec statement, like this
exec 'signals = ' + line

 And then, one day, somebody who doesn't like you will add the following
 to your input data:

 0; import os; os.system('rm # -rf /')

 [ Kids: don't try this at home! Seriously, running that command will be
 bad for your computer's health. Or at least it would, if I hadn't put a
 spike in it. ]

 Don't use exec in production code unless you know what you're doing. In
 fact, don't use exec in production code.

  Now I want to iterate over signals, which works perfect if there are 2
  or more signals,
  but it fails when I have none or just 1 signal.
  for value in signals :
  do something

 No, I would say it already failed before it even got there.

  line = ''
  exec 'signals = ' + line

 Traceback (most recent call last):
   File stdin, line 1, in ?
   File string, line 1
 signals =
 ^
 SyntaxError: unexpected EOF while parsing

 This is the right way to deal with your data:

 input_data =   (2, 3  , 4)

   (2)
 (3,4,5)
 ( 1, 2,3)
 

 for line in input_data.split('\n'):
 line = line.strip().strip('()')
 values = line.split(',')
 for value in values:
 value = value.strip()
 if value:
 print(value)

  As this meant for real-time signals, I want it fast, so (I think) I
  can't afford extensive testing.

 Don't guess, test it and see if it is fast enough. Some speed ups:

 If you're reading from a file, you can just say: for line in file:
 instead of slurping the whole lot into one enormous string, then
 splitting over newlines.

 If you can guarantee that there is no extra whitespace in the file, you
 can change the line

 line = line.strip().strip('()')

 to the following:

 line = line.strip('\n()')

 and save a smidgen of time per loop. Likewise, drop the value =
 value.strip() in the inner loop.

 --
 Steven.

why not:
 for i in eval('(1,2,3)'):
... print i
1
2
3

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Re: how to iterate over sequence and non-sequence ?

2007-10-19 Thread Steven D'Aprano
On Fri, 19 Oct 2007 18:38:06 +0200, stef mientki wrote:

 I don't have pointers, I've just names (at least I think). Let me
 explain a little bit more,
 I want to simulate / debug a user program, the user program might look
 like this:
 
x = 5
for i in xrange(10):
x = x + 1


I thought you were writing a JAL interpreter:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JAL_(compiler)

but the code above is Python.



 So now I want to follow the changes in x and i, therefor in the
 background I change the user program a little bit, like this
 
 def user_program():
x = 5; _debug(2)
global x,i
_debug (3)
for i in xrange(10):
_debug (3)
x = x + 1; _debug (4)
 
 And this modified user program is now called by the main program. Now in
 the _debug procedure I can set breakpoints and watch x and i. 

Python already has a debugger. Try this:

import pdb
help(pdb)



-- 
Steven.
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Re: how to iterate over sequence and non-sequence ?

2007-10-19 Thread Steven D'Aprano
On Fri, 19 Oct 2007 01:24:09 +0200, stef mientki wrote:

 hello,
 
 I generate dynamically a sequence of values, but this sequence could
 also have length 1 or even length 0.
 
 So I get some line in the form of:
   line = '(2,3,4)'
   line = ''
   line = '(2)'
 (in fact these are not constant numbers, but all kind of integer
 variables, coming from all over the program, selected from a tree, that
 shows all reachable variables)
 
 So in fact I get the value from an exec statement, like this
   exec 'signals = ' + line

And then, one day, somebody who doesn't like you will add the following 
to your input data:

0; import os; os.system('rm # -rf /')

[ Kids: don't try this at home! Seriously, running that command will be 
bad for your computer's health. Or at least it would, if I hadn't put a 
spike in it. ]

Don't use exec in production code unless you know what you're doing. In 
fact, don't use exec in production code.


 Now I want to iterate over signals, which works perfect if there are 2
 or more signals,
 but it fails when I have none or just 1 signal.
 for value in signals :
 do something


No, I would say it already failed before it even got there.

 line = ''
 exec 'signals = ' + line
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File stdin, line 1, in ?
  File string, line 1
signals =
^
SyntaxError: unexpected EOF while parsing



This is the right way to deal with your data:

input_data =   (2, 3  , 4) 

  (2)
(3,4,5)
( 1, 2,3)


for line in input_data.split('\n'):
line = line.strip().strip('()')
values = line.split(',')
for value in values:
value = value.strip()
if value:
print(value)


 As this meant for real-time signals, I want it fast, so (I think) I
 can't afford extensive testing.

Don't guess, test it and see if it is fast enough. Some speed ups:

If you're reading from a file, you can just say: for line in file: 
instead of slurping the whole lot into one enormous string, then 
splitting over newlines.

If you can guarantee that there is no extra whitespace in the file, you 
can change the line 

line = line.strip().strip('()')

to the following:

line = line.strip('\n()')

and save a smidgen of time per loop. Likewise, drop the value = 
value.strip() in the inner loop.


-- 
Steven.
-- 
http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list


Re: how to iterate over sequence and non-sequence ?

2007-10-19 Thread Paul Hankin
On Oct 19, 12:24 am, stef mientki [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 I generate dynamically a sequence of values,
 but this sequence could also have length 1 or even length 0.

 So I get some line in the form of:
   line = '(2,3,4)'
   line = ''
   line = '(2)'
 (in fact these are not constant numbers, but all kind of integer
 variables, coming from all over the program, selected from a tree, that
 shows all reachable variables)

 So in fact I get the value from an exec statement, like this
   exec 'signals = ' + line

 Now I want to iterate over signals, which works perfect if there are 2
 or more signals,
 but it fails when I have none or just 1 signal.
 for value in signals :
 do something

 As this meant for real-time signals, I want it fast, so (I think) I
 can't afford extensive testing.

 Any smart solution there ?

First: don't collect data into strings - python has many container
types which you can use.

Next, your strings look like they're supposed to contain tuples. In
fact, tuples are a bit awkward sometimes because you have to use
'(a,') for a tuple with one element - (2) isn't a tuple of length one,
it's the same as 2. Either cope with this special case, or use lists.
Either way, you'll have to use () or [] for an empty sequence.

--
Paul Hankin

-- 
http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list


Re: how to iterate over sequence and non-sequence ?

2007-10-19 Thread Paul Hankin
On Oct 19, 5:38 pm, stef mientki [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 ... snip hand-coded debugger
 I couldn't come up with a better solution ;-)

Does pdb not suffice?

Even if it doesn't; you can look up variables without using exec,
using locals()['x'] or globals()['x']

--
Paul Hankin

-- 
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