Replace a column by its IDs from another file

[elhallouf]

Hey you all
I am starting with python (more familiar with shell in general)

I am trying to write a script that replaces a column in a text file with numbers (or IDs) from an other file.
Let me rephrase it :

I have 2 files: ITEMS.txt and IDs.txt
Items.txt: (Location, Item)

Store1  Shampoo
Store2  Soap
Store3  Milk
Store4  Beer
Store5  Soap

IDs.txt : (ID, Item)

1  Beer
2  Shampoo
3  Soap
4  Milk

I am trying to replace the Item column in Items.txt with the corresponding IDs to get a new file
Final.txt (Location, ID)

Store1  2
Store2  3
Store3  4
Store4  1
Store5  3

Well, the files I got are bigger than those (2 Meg for Items.txt) and searching for each line of Items.txt every line of IDs.txt is quite annoying..

Any thoughts?
Thanks

[jrcagle]

Absolutely. You need ... dictionaries.

store_dict = {}
f1 = open("ITEMS.txt")
for line in f1:
   store, item = line.strip("/n").split(" ")
   store_dict[store] = item
f1.close()

items_dict = {}
f2 = open("IDs.txt")
for line in f2:
   item, ID = line.strip("\n").strip()
   items_dict[item] = ID
f2.close()

At this point, you now have all of the items indexed by store (in store_dict) and all of the IDs indexed by item (in item_dict), so...

ID_dict = {}
for store in store_dict:
   item = store_dict[store]
   if item in item_dict:
      ID_dict[store] = item_dict[item]
   else:
      ID_dict[store] = None

There's probably a schnazzier way to write the code, but that's clear enough, I hope.

Jeff

[elhallouf]

Sorry I couldn't make this work.
May be because it is little bit more complicated than this:

My items are not made of a single word :
STORES.txt

Store1  Shampoo Deluxe
Store2  Soap of Marseille
Store3  Milk from NE
Store4  Beer from Belgium
Store5  Soap of Marseille

I wanna have a list, not with numbers, but with first letters of each word, like this :
ITEMS.txt

BFB  Beer from NE
SD   Shampoo Deluxe
SOM Soap of Marseille
MFN  Milk from NE

(first, I couldn't write this part)

then, replace in STORES.txt, (or get a new file called NEW_STORES.txt), like this:

Store1  SD
Store2  SOM
Store3  MFN
Store4  BFN
Store5  SOM

Thanks a lot, I am stuck for a week now ..

[woooee]

The dictionary principle remains the same. It doesn't matter if there are multiple words or just one word.
dictionary key = what is in file = Store2 "Soap of Marseille" --> look up "Soap of Marseille"
so store_dic["Soap of Marseille"] = "SOM"
If you are unsure of punctuation, use isalpha to eliminate spaces, etc for both the key and the look up phrase.
To print the dictionary:
.for key in store_dic.keys():
......print store_dic[key], key --> "SOM Soap of Marseille"
If this doesn't explain it, post your code. It is more difficult to explain in the abstract.

[elhallouf]

Thanks a lot.. I finally understood the dictionary principle. It worked great.
But I am still stock at assigning the IDs part
I just started a new thread about that, so that I can close this one

thanks for your help