How to run certain function based on command line input given in python

Question

I have my main script where i have two functions defined. The or_search will find occurrences of a string specified and add to the list what index position it has been found within.

The second function and_search finds occurrences of a string specified and a counter is used to increment the amount of times it has been found. In my main function , if i pass for example python main.py andsearch commission , item , sold , it should run the and_search function and bring back the results. It should do this with orsearch as well. When running on the command line , it seems to print back nothing on the terminal. I am not sure what it is that i am doing wrong. My script is as follows :

import argparse


def get_config():
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='Search your keyword ex: querycheck.py andsearch general,population,Alzheimer')
    parser.add_argument('searchtype', type=str, help='Search type orsearch and andsearch only ')
    parser.add_argument('Value', type=str, help='Parameter to search')
    args = parser.parse_args()
    return args.searchtype, args.Value

finallist = []
counter = 0


def or_search(get_config):
    search_type, value = get_config()

    if search_type == "orsearch":
        value_split = value.split(",")
        with open("hscic-news", "r") as file:
            file_content = file.readlines()
            for x in range(len(file_content)):
                for y in value_split:
                    if y in file_content[x]:
                        finallist.append(x)


        list_with_duplicates = list(set(finallist))
        final_list = list(set(finallist))
        result = final_list
        print(result)

    else:
            print ("Please enter only or/and for search type ")
            exit(1)


#

def and_search(get_config):
    search_type, value = get_config()
    if search_type == "andsearch" :
        value_split = value.split(",")
        with open("hscic-news", "r") as newsfile:
            ncontent = newsfile.readlines()
            for x in range(len(ncontent)):
                for y in value_split:
                    if y in ncontent[x]:
                        counter += 1
                    else:
                        counter = 0
                    if counter == len(value_split) :

                       finallist.append(x)

        final_list = list(set(finallist))
        result = final_list
        print(result)
    #
    #
    else:
            print ("Please enter only or/and for search type ")
            exit(1)



if __name__ == '__main__':

    search_type = get_config()
    if search_type == "orsearch":
        or_search(get_config())
    elif search_type == "andsearch":
        and_search(get_config())

Answer 1

You are calling get_config a total of five times, but you only need to call it once. Just pass on the result to the functions you call. Perhaps like this:

def or_search(value):
    value_split = value.split(",")
    # ...

def and_search(value):
    value_split = value.split(",")
    # ...

if __name__ == '__main__':
    search_type, value = get_config()
    if search_type == "orsearch":
        or_search(value)
    elif search_type == "andsearch":
        and_search(value)

Probably a lot more of your code should be refactored to avoid repetitions. If you find a bug, you don't want to have to remember to fix it in two or more places in your code. See also DRY Principle.