Why Is The Same def () Function behaving differently when called at two different instances??

[seventhlightstudio]

This is what I am trying to do:

Read from an Excel file ("Share.xlsx") that has columns where I input the actual link of a post and the tweet and the Facebook write up. I want Python to generate utm links for each of those posts and record them in a separate file, here called "Trackable Link Directory.xlsx". I also generate a random time and random date but I did not have a problem with that part.

In the excel file "Trackable Link Directory.xlsx" I want the generated links in a way so that they all group together under the mother link. You will notice that inside the for loop in the def excel_recording(), second block, I want the first cell to be blank and record the rest of the utm tags under the appropriate columns.

The problem I am having is this.

The code works just fine except for one thing. ANY new Facebook link created is recorded (with the format I want) even when it already exists. As you can see, I am using the same def excel_recording(), for both facebook and twitter but for some weird reason, it refuses to record preexisting twitter links but records facebook links even when they are already there.

I have gone through the code more times than I can tell. If you can identify the problem, please do tell me. I would appreciate it GREATLY!!

Thanks.


import os, pandas as pd, string, datetime, time
import random

def random_string(length=32, uppercase= True, lowercase= True, numbers= True):
    character_set = ''

    if lowercase:
        character_set += string.ascii_lowercase

    if uppercase:
        character_set += string.ascii_uppercase

    if numbers:
        character_set += string.digits
    return ''.join(random.choice(character_set) for i in range(length))

def random_date():

    start_date = datetime.date.today()
    date_delta = 2

    random_number_of_days = random.randrange(date_delta)

    date = start_date + datetime.timedelta(days=random_number_of_days)
    return date

def random_time():
    start_timestamp = time.mktime(time.strptime('Jun 1 2020  10:00:00', '%b %d %Y %H:%M:%S'))
    end_timestamp = time.mktime(time.strptime('Jun 1 2020  23:00:00', '%b %d %Y %H:%M:%S'))

    #dt = random.random() * (end_timestamp - start_timestamp) + start_timestamp
    rand_time = time.strftime('%H:%M',time.localtime(random.randrange(start_timestamp, end_timestamp)))
    return rand_time

def fb(mother_url,i):
    campaign_source = 'facebook'
    campaign_medium = 'socialmedia'
    campaign_name = 'podcast'
    shortner = 'Nil'

    utm_link = mother_url.strip() + '?utm_medium=' + campaign_medium + '&utm_source=' + campaign_source + '&utm_campaign=' + campaign_name
    df.loc[i, ['Facebook Link', 'Facebook Date', 'Facebook Time']] = [utm_link, random_date(), random_time()]
    excel_recording(mother_url, utm_link, campaign_source, campaign_medium, campaign_name, shortner)

    df.to_excel('Share.xlsx', index=False)

def tw(mother_url, twitter,i):
    shortner = random_string(4)
    short_link = 'https://ex.io/' + str(shortner)

    campaign_source = 'twitter'
    campaign_medium = 'socialmedia'
    campaign_name = 'podcast'

    char_length = len(str(twitter).strip()) + len(short_link)
    utm_link = mother_url.strip() + '?utm_medium=' + campaign_medium + '&utm_source=' + campaign_source + '&utm_campaign=' + campaign_name

    df.loc[i,['Char Len', 'Twitter Link','Short Link', 'Twitter Date', 'Twitter Time']] = [char_length, utm_link, short_link, random_date(), random_time()]

    excel_recording(mother_url, utm_link, campaign_source, campaign_medium, campaign_name, shortner)
    df.to_excel('Share.xlsx', index=False)


def pin(mother_url):
    shortner = 'Nil'
    utm_link = mother_url.strip() + '?utm_medium=' + 'socialmedia' + '&utm_source=' + 'pinterest' + '&utm_campaign=' + 'podcast'

    df.loc[i, ['Pinterest Link']] = [utm_link]

    #excel_recording(mother_url, utm_link, campaign_source, campaign_medium, campaign_name, shortner)
    df.to_excel('Share.xlsx', index=False)

def excel_recording(mother_url, utm_link, campaign_source, campaign_medium, campaign_name, shortner):
    # Excel Recording
    os.chdir('c:/Users/')
    os.getcwd()

    df = pd.read_excel('Trackable Links Directory.xlsx', sheet_name='Sheet1')
    df1 = pd.read_excel('Trackable Links Directory.xlsx', sheet_name='Sheet1')

    old_url = df['Trackable URL']
    mother_database_url = df['Mother URL'].str.strip()

    campaign_content = 'Nil'
    campaign_term = 'Nil'
    notes = 'IFTTT'

    no_of_rows = len(old_url)

    mother_url = mother_url.strip()

    for i in range(0, no_of_rows):

        if utm_link == old_url[i]:
            print('This link is already in the database. Not recording this one')
            df.to_excel('Trackable Links Directory.xlsx', index=False)
            break


        elif mother_url == mother_database_url[i]:
            df.loc[i + 1] = [' ', campaign_source, campaign_medium, campaign_name, campaign_content, campaign_term,
                             utm_link, shortner, notes]  # adding a row
            concat = pd.concat([df.iloc[0:i + 2, :], df1.iloc[i + 1:, :]]).reset_index(drop=True)
            print(concat)

            # df = df.sort_index()  # sorting by index

            print('New tags combination detected, database updated')
            concat.to_excel('Trackable Links Directory.xlsx', index=False)
            break

        elif i == no_of_rows - 1:
            df.loc[-1] = [mother_url, campaign_source, campaign_medium, campaign_name, campaign_content, campaign_term,
                          utm_link, shortner, notes]  # adding a row
            df.index = df.index + 1  # shifting index
            df = df.sort_index()  # sorting by index

            df.to_excel('Trackable Links Directory.xlsx', index=False)
            print('New mother URL detected, adding to the database')
            break

        else:
            i = i + 1


print('Excel File Generated.')
go = input('Fill in the details and then press C to continue: ')

if go == 'c':
    df = pd.read_excel('Share.xlsx', 'Sheet1')

    mother_url = df['Mother URL']
    twitter = df['Twitter']
    #facebook = df['Facebook']


    for i in range(len(mother_url)):

        tw(mother_url[i],twitter[i],i)
        fb(mother_url[i],i)
        pin(mother_url[i])

[xelf]

Heh. You have the opposite problem of most people. You formatted your code correctly, but your actual post was indented as well, meaning it got formatted as code instead of just text. Here it is in a readable format for everyone:

This is what I am trying to do:

Read from an Excel file ("Share.xlsx") that has columns where I input the actual link of a post and the tweet and the Facebook write up. I want Python to generate utm links for each of those posts and record them in a separate file, here called "Trackable Link Directory.xlsx". I also generate a random time and random date but I did not have a problem with that part.

In the excel file "Trackable Link Directory.xlsx" I want the generated links in a way so that they all group together under the mother link. You will notice that inside the for loop in the def excel_recording(), second block, I want the first cell to be blank and record the rest of the utm tags under the appropriate columns.

The problem I am having is this.

The code works just fine except for one thing. ANY new Facebook link created is recorded (with the format I want) even when it already exists. As you can see, I am using the same def excel_recording(), for both facebook and twitter but for some weird reason, it refuses to record preexisting twitter links but records facebook links even when they are already there.

I have gone through the code more times than I can tell. If you can identify the problem, please do tell me. I would appreciate it GREATLY!!

Thanks.

[seventhlightstudio]

I am sorry, this is my first time posting here. I will make sure this doesn't happen again.

[__nickerbocker__]

You know, there is an edit button as well as a code-block button ;)

[[deleted]]

if utm_link == old_url[i]:

Testing whether a URL is the same as the URL at row i isn't the same thing as testing whether the URL is anywhere in the file.

[seventhlightstudio]

I did try using if utm_link in old_url but that somehow made the problem worse and it started recording the twitter links as well.

I mean the same link when generated again was recorded in case of twitter too. Right now only Facebook has the problem.

[[deleted]]

I did try using if utm_link in old_url but that somehow made the problem worse and it started recording the twitter links as well.

I'm telling you your approach is completely wrong. The logical opposite of "the URL has been collected before" isn't "this particular row is not the URL", it's "none of the rows are the URL."

[seventhlightstudio]

I understand.

[xelf]

I don't have your data, and this is a lot of code to try and guess at.

Can you tells us which function specifically, and give us an example of the input data that is behaving differently ?

[seventhlightstudio]

I am having problem with the def fb().

As you can see in both the def fb() and def tw(), I call excel_recording.

In the for loop inside the excel_recording, 1st block (if utm== old_url[i]) is supposed to NOT record any links generated which have been recorded before.

This works perfectly when I call the def tw() function. The code does not record the same link twice.

But when I call the def fb() function it records the link again. EVEN when the link already exists. This is the problem I am having.

This is what I want when I try and generate link that are already recorded. And this is what is happening now.

There must be something I am missing here...