File management

[erict1689]

I am writing a program in which i open up a file and read the contents
then do some calculations and update the information but in a new
file. So my question is how do i go about declaring the new file so
that the program will know that the new information goes into the new
file and not the original? if it helps here is the code that i have
so far:
def startUp():
# Purpose: opens files and print report headings
global empName, previousYTD, payRate, hoursWorked, recordCount,
eof, payFile, \
payFileUpdated, newYTD, currentPay
payFile=open("payroll.txt", "r")
payFile.readline()
def readRecord():
# Purpose: reads a record
global empName, previousYTD, payRate, hoursWorked, recordCount,
eof, payFile, \
payFileUpdated, newYTD, currentPay

employeeRec = payFile.readline()
if employeeRec == "":
eof = True
else:
# parse file line for record fields and format/convert for
final output
empName = employeeRec[0:25].strip()
previousYTD = float(employeeRec[25:40])
payRate = float(employeeRec[40:55])
hoursWorked = float(employeeRec[55:70])
recordCount += 1
eof = False

def writeRecord():
# Purpose: writes the updated record to the output file
#Parameter
global empName, previousYTD, payRate, hoursWorked, recordCount,
eof, payFile, \
payFileUpdated, newYTD, currentPay

def processRecords():
# Purpose: loops through input file and processes each record
global empName, previousYTD, payRate, hoursWorked, recordCount,
eof, payFile, \
payFileUpdated, newYTD, currentPay

while not eof:
calculatePay()
printReportLine()
writeRecord()
readRecord()

def calculatePay():
# Purpose: calculates pay and updated YTD
# Return values: float - calculated pay, float - updated YTD amount
global empName, previousYTD, payRate, hoursWorked, recordCount,
eof, payFile, \
payFileUpdated, newYTD, currentPay

def printReportLine():
# Purpose: prints employee pay information
# Parameters passed: float - calculated pay, float - updated YTD
amount
global empName, previousYTD, payRate, hoursWorked, recordCount,
eof, payFile, \
payFileUpdated, newYTD, currentPay

def closeUp():
# Purpose: end of program housekeeping
global empName, previousYTD, payRate, hoursWorked, recordCount,
eof, payFile, \
payFileUpdated, newYTD, currentPay

payFile.close()
payFileUpdated.close()
print "\nNumber of records in the file was",recordCount

any and all help is appreciated.

[Ronny Sonntag]

erict1689 schrieb:

def closeUp():
# Purpose: end of program housekeeping
global empName, previousYTD, payRate, hoursWorked, recordCount,
eof, payFile, \
payFileUpdated, newYTD, currentPay

payFile.close()
payFileUpdated.close()
print "\nNumber of records in the file was",recordCount

any and all help is appreciated.

don't use global, here ist no need for.

if you need a output file so open one and use it.
def writeFile(fileName, content):
hd = open(fileName, 'wb');
hd.write(content)
hd.close