Random File Opener

Question

I wrote a random file opener in Python that takes file extensions as a tuple at code level, and directory/amount at console level:

import os
import random
import sys
class RandomFileOpener():
 def __init__(self, positives, file_exts):
 self.file_list_complete = []
 self.amount_to_open = 0 #So it can be checked if there's an existing entry
 self.selected_files = []
 self.positives = positives
 self.file_exts = file_exts
 self.open = False
 self.begin()
 def generate_file_array(self, directory):
 array = []
 for root, directories, files in os.walk(directory):
 for filename in files:
 if filename.lower().endswith(self.file_exts):
 array.append(os.path.join(root, filename))
 return array 
 def random_choice(self, images, amount):
 return [random.choice(images) for i in range(0, len(images) if len(images) < amount else amount)]
 def open_files(self, selected_files):
 for file in selected_files:
 os.system("open " + file.replace(' ', '\ '))
 def begin(self):
 while True:
 if len(self.file_list_complete) == 0:
 self.file_list_complete = self.generate_file_array(str(input("Enter directory address: ")))
 if self.amount_to_open == 0:
 self.amount_to_open = int(input("Enter the amount of files you want: "))
 if len(self.selected_files) == 0:
 self.selected_files = self.random_choice(self.file_list_complete, self.amount_to_open) 
 if str(input("Do you want to open them? ").lower()) not in positives:
 print([file for file in self.selected_files])
 else:
 self.open_files(self.selected_files)
 if str(input("Do you want to do another? ").lower()) not in positives:
 sys.exit()
 self.begin()
positives = ["y", "yes", "sure"]
image_file_exts = ('.png', '.jpg', '.jpeg', '.gif', '.webm')
image_opener = RandomFileOpener(positives, image_file_exts)

Answer 1

Did you mean to include a call to self.begin at the end of your while loop in self.begin?

def begin(self):
 while True:
 ...
 self.begin() # <-- Ruh-roh shaggy?

The while loop should already repeat the code contained in it, so the call to self.begin would only add more recursion-related issues into the mix.

The call to str here is redundant:

str(input("Do you want to do another? ").lower())

If you're using Python 3.x, as I assumed from looking at your print statements, then you don't need to convert user input to a string. User input is already in a string format when it's obtained. The above code can simply become this:

input("Do you want to do another? ").lower()

In addition, there's no need for the parentheses when declaring a class in Python, as you've done here:

class RandomFileOpener():

It can simply be declared like this:

class RandomFileOpener:

In older versions of Python, the parentheses, plus object inside the parentheses were required though in order to have a new-style class. In newer versions of Python though, all classes inherit from object by default.

• Quill: Yes, I did mean to add the call at the end. That's mainly why I store the variables.
• Ethan Bierlein: @Quill-HATMANIAC Huh? I'm not sure what you're trying to say. I ran your code without the recursive call to begin and it worked fine for me.
• Quill: Oh, I see. Right. The while loop does that instead.

Answer 2

Checking things

Prefer just if lst: to if len(lst) == 0. Prefer if not self.amount_to_open to comparing against 0.

Recursive and Iterative

begin() is both recursive and iterative. Pick one - iterative is good enough. Just have it loop until done:

def begin(self):
 while True:
 # there's a break somewhere in here, but no self.begin()

Naming

begin() doesn't just start doing something. It does everything - which is pretty unintuitive to say the least.

Random choice

This:

return [random.choice(images) for i in range(0, len(images) if len(images) < amount else amount)]

Is the same as:

return [random.choice(images) for i in range(0, min(len(images), amount))]

But could pick the same image lots of times. If you really want to sample, you'll want:

return random.sample(images, min(len(images), amount))

or:

try:
 return random.sample(images, amount)
except ValueError:
 return images

• SuperBiasedMan: If begin does everything run would probably be a better name.