>> >> file('filename.txt').readlines()[-1]
>>
>> > Not to hijack the thread, but what stops you from just putting a
>> > file.close() after your example line?
>>
>> Which file should file.close() close? The problem is that we don't
>> have a handle on the particular file we want to close off.
>>
> Oh wow.. I totally missed that... nevermind.. ignore that question =D
Hi Chris,
No, no, it's an interesting one. It turns out that there IS a way to
sorta do what you're thinking:
############################################################
class FilePool:
"""A small demo class to show how we might keep track of
files opened with us."""
def __init__(self):
self.pool = []
def open(self, filename):
f = open(filename)
self.pool.append(f)
return f
def closeAll(self):
for f in self.pool:
f.close()
self.pool = []
fp = FilePool()
############################################################
Once we have FilePool, we might say something like:
##################################################################
print "the last line is:", fp.open('filename.txt').readlines()[-1]
fp.closeAll()
##################################################################
This is similar in spirit to the idea of "autorelease" memory pools used
by the Objective C language. We use some resource "manager" that does
keep a handle on resources. That manager then has the power and
responsiblity to call close() at some point. So one might imagine doing
something like:
############################################
create a manager
try:
... # use resources that the manager doles out
finally:
use the manager to close everything down
############################################
So your question may have seemed like a dumb one, but it's actually a good
one. *grin*
Good luck!
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