Unknown errors, RSS feed

[bhass]

From my other post I am making a simple program that creates an RSS feed with Python. Now when I run my program so far, I get errors. It says "something is not defined". The word something is replaced by the name of the function I'm trying to use. my article function when ran, comes up with "article is not defined" etc.

Here's my code: What is wrong with it?

#!/usr/bin/env python
import ftplib
import getpass
 
def mainfeed():
    name=raw_input("Name of Feed: ")
    desc=raw_input("Description of Feed: ")
    url=raw_input("Location of Website: ")
    again()
 
def again():
    again=raw_input("Would you like to add an article to the feed? Y/N: ")
    if again == "Y":
        article()
    elif again =="N":
        writeb()
    else:
        print again + """is not a valid option. You must select either 'Y' or 'N'"""
        fail()
 
def fail():
    again()
 
def article():
    aname=raw_input("Name of Article: ")
    adesc=raw_input("Description of Article: ")
    aurl=raw_input("Location of Article: ")
    finish()
 
def finish():
    print "Saving parameters to rss-feed.xml...please wait..."
    print "Finished"   
    writea()
 
def writea():
    file_name = "rss-feed.xml"
    f = open(file_name, 'w')
    outlist = ['<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?>', '<rss version="0.91">',]
    outlist.append('  <channel>\n    <title>%s</title>' % name)
    outlist.append('    <link>%s</link>' % url)
    outlist.append('    <description>%s</description>' % desc)
    outlist.append('    <item>\n        <title>%s</title>' % aname)
    outlist.append('        <link>%s</link>' % aurl)
    outlist.append('        <description>%s</description>' % adesc)
    outlist.append('    </item>')
    outlist.append('  </channel>')
    outlist.append('</rss>')  
    f.write('\n'.join(outlist))
    f.close()
    ftpqe()
 
def writeb():
    file_name = "rss-feed.xml"
    f = open(file_name, 'w')
    outlist = ['<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?>', '<rss version="0.91">',]
    outlist.append('  <channel>\n    <title>%s</title>' % name)
    outlist.append('    <link>%s</link>' % url)
    outlist.append('    <description>%s</description>' % desc)
    outlist.append('  </channel>')
    outlist.append('</rss>')  
    f.write('\n'.join(outlist))
    f.close()
    ftpqe()
 
def ftpqe():
    ftpq=raw_input("Do you want to upload your XML file to your website via FTP? Y/N: ")
    if ftpq == "Y":
        ftp()
    elif ftpq =="N":
        end()
    else:
        print again + """is not a valid option. You must select either 'Y' or 'N'"""
        fail2()
 
def fail2():
    ftpqe()
 
def ftp():
    server=raw_input("Server name: ")
    login=raw_input("Enter your login: ")
    password = getpass.unix_getpass("Enter your password: ")
    ftplib.FTP(server,login,password)
    f = open('rss-feed.xml','rb') 
    s.storbinary('STOR rss-feed.xml', f)
    f.close()
    s.quit()
    print "Your file has been uploaded"
    end()
 
def end():
    print "Thank you"
 
mainfeed()

[bvdet]

In this line:

s.storbinary('STOR rss-feed.xml', f)

I don't see where s is defined. It would be helpful if you would post the exact error message and include all tracebacks. If you are not seeing this information, try enclosing your code in a try/except block similiar to this:

import sys, traceback
 
def formatExceptionInfo(level=6):
    error_type, error_value, trbk = sys.exc_info()
    info_list = ["Error: %s \nDescription: %s \nTraceback:\n" % (error_type.__name__, error_value), ]
    info_list.extend(traceback.format_tb(trbk, level))
    return ''.join(info_list)
 
try:
    mainfeed()
except:
    print formatExceptionInfo()

[bhass]

Here are the errors I get so far:

No 1:

Name of Feed: test
Description of Feed: test
Location of Website: test
Would you like to add an article to the feed? Y/N: N
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "rssgps.py", line 93, in <module>
    mainfeed()
  File "rssgps.py", line 9, in mainfeed
    again()
  File "rssgps.py", line 16, in again
    writeb()
  File "rssgps.py", line 56, in writeb
    outlist.append('  <channel>\n    <title>%s</title>' % name)
NameError: global name 'name' is not defined
 

no 2

Name of Feed: test
Description of Feed: test
Location of Website: test
Would you like to add an article to the feed? Y/N: Y
Name of Article: test
Description of Article: test
Location of Article: test
Saving parameters to rss-feed.xml...please wait...
Finished
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "rssgps.py", line 93, in <module>
    mainfeed()
  File "rssgps.py", line 9, in mainfeed
    again()
  File "rssgps.py", line 14, in again
    article()
  File "rssgps.py", line 28, in article
    finish()
  File "rssgps.py", line 33, in finish
    writea()
  File "rssgps.py", line 39, in writea
    outlist.append('  <channel>\n    <title>%s</title>' % name)
NameError: global name 'name' is not defined
 
 

I have more on the functions that are executed later on in the script, but this is so far.

But name IS defined, from the raw input at the start of the mainfeed function!

[bvdet]

It is a matter of scope and the way Python resolves names. When a function executes, a new namespace is created which includes the names of the function parameters and variables assigned in the function. When resolving names, the interpreter first checks the local namespace, in this case, the namespace created by the function. If no match is found, it checks the global namespace. The global namespace is always the module which defines the function. If no match is found, it checks the built-in namespace before raising a NameError exception. As you can see, the interpreter never checks the namespaces of the other functions in your module. You must make the variable names global or pass arguments to your functions.

[bhass]

@bvdet
Thanks! I'll make them global now, and then I'll post the other errors later. That's one bit solved.

[bhass]

#!/usr/bin/env python
import ftplib
import getpass
 
name=raw_input("Name of Feed: ")
desc=raw_input("Description of Feed: ")
url=raw_input("Location of Website: ")
print "Your main feeds settings have been updated"
print "Now information about adding an article to the feed.Other articles can be added manually later"
aname=raw_input("Name of Article: ")
adesc=raw_input("Description of Article: ")
aurl=raw_input("Location of Article: ")
finish()
 
def finish():
    print "Saving parameters to rss-feed.xml...please wait..."
    print "Finished"   
    writea()
 
def writea():
    file_name = "rss-feed.xml"
    f = open(file_name, 'w')
    outlist = ['<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?>', '<rss version="0.91">',]
    outlist.append('  <channel>\n    <title>%s</title>' % name)
    outlist.append('    <link>%s</link>' % url)
    outlist.append('    <description>%s</description>' % desc)
    outlist.append('    <item>\n        <title>%s</title>' % aname)
    outlist.append('        <link>%s</link>' % aurl)
    outlist.append('        <description>%s</description>' % adesc)
    outlist.append('    </item>')
    outlist.append('  </channel>')
    outlist.append('</rss>')  
    f.write('\n'.join(outlist))
    f.close()
    ftpqe()
 
def writeb():
    file_name = "rss-feed.xml"
    f = open(file_name, 'w')
    outlist = ['<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?>', '<rss version="0.91">',]
    outlist.append('  <channel>\n    <title>%s</title>' % name)
    outlist.append('    <link>%s</link>' % url)
    outlist.append('    <description>%s</description>' % desc)
    outlist.append('  </channel>')
    outlist.append('</rss>')  
    f.write('\n'.join(outlist))
    f.close()
    ftpqe()
 
def ftpqe():
    ftpq=raw_input("Do you want to upload your XML file to your website via FTP? Y/N: ")
    if ftpq == "Y":
        ftp()
    elif ftpq =="N":
        end()
    else:
        print again + """is not a valid option. You must select either 'Y' or 'N'"""
        fail2()
 
def fail2():
    ftpqe()
 
def ftp():
    server=raw_input("Server name: ")
    login=raw_input("Enter your login: ")
    password = getpass.unix_getpass("Enter your password: ")
    ftplib.FTP(server,login,password)
    f = open('rss-feed.xml','rb') 
    s.storbinary('STOR rss-feed.xml', f)
    f.close()
    s.quit()
    print "Your file has been uploaded"
    end()
 
def end():
    print "Thank you for using "
 

I changed it to this now, the names and article names have been made global, and now I get this error. It's this I don't understand the most, because finish is obviously a function. error:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "rssgps.py", line 13, in <module>
    finish()
NameError: name 'finish' is not defined
 
 

Do I misunderstand functions?

[bvdet]

You have to define it before you call it.

def finish():
    ....do stuff....
 
finish()

[bhass]

Thanks once again, you've really helped me. Now 1 final question.
Everything works apart from the FTP. This is the error:

Do you want to upload your XML file to your website via FTP? Y/N: Y
Server name: test
Enter your login: test
Enter your password: 
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "rssgps.py", line 76, in <module>
    finish()
  File "rssgps.py", line 8, in finish
    writea()
  File "rssgps.py", line 25, in writea
    ftpqe()
  File "rssgps.py", line 43, in ftpqe
    ftp()
  File "rssgps.py", line 57, in ftp
    ftplib.FTP(server,login,password)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/ftplib.py", line 107, in __init__
    self.connect(host)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/ftplib.py", line 117, in connect
    for res in socket.getaddrinfo(self.host, self.port, 0, socket.SOCK_STREAM):
socket.gaierror: (-2, 'Name or service not known')
 
 

Any ideas? Thanks

[bvdet]

You did not assign the ftplib.FTP object to a variable. Try this:

    s = ftplib.FTP(server,login,password)
    f = open('rss-feed.xml','rb') 
    s.storbinary('STOR rss-feed.xml', f)
    f.close()
    s.quit()

If that is not the problem, you may have an incorrect server name or user name. This worked for me on my FTP server:

>>> import ftplib
>>> f = ftplib.FTP('ftp.bvdetailing.com', '*********', '********')
>>> f.mkd('ftplib_test')
'ftplib_test'
>>> f.close()
>>> 

[bhass]

Yet again, thank you. I can only keep thanking you!

[bvdet]

You're welcome. You did a good job of defining your problem and seeing the thread through. Fortunately, I was able to help.

-BV