From: Steven D'Aprano <st...@pearwood.info> >To: tutor@python.org >Sent: Wednesday, August 28, 2013 4:19 AM >Subject: Re: [Tutor] spss.BasePivotTable > > >On 27/08/13 23:14, Albert-Jan Roskam wrote: >> Hello, >> >> I am trying to create a BasePivot table with three columns: one for the >> labels, one for a a category "Before" and one for "After". The following >> attempt fails, but what am I doing wrong? > >At least two things. Here is the first: > >> try: > [much code] >> except spss.SpssError: >> print "Error." > >You should replace that line with: > >print """Python gives you a nice traceback showing you exactly >what went wrong and where it went wrong, but I'm not going to >show it to you. Instead, you have to guess, because Screw You. >""" > >It's a little more wordy, but more accurate.
;-) Thank you, I entirely agree. I hate nondescriptive errors myself, too. >And the second: > >> print spss.GetLastErrorMessage() > >You're apparently not reading what the last error message is, or if you have >read it, you're keeping it a secret from us. > > >What you actually ought to do is preferably get rid of the try...except >altogether, at least while debugging. Your aim as a programmer is not to hide >errors, but to eliminate them. Hiding them only makes it harder to identify >the errors, which is the first step in eliminating them. I was also thinking that there was a bit MUCH code in the try-except. But sometimes I keep it all in a try-clause because these lines of code are one coherent block. _______________________________________________ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org To unsubscribe or change subscription options: http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor
