Page 118 -
P. 118
missing colon
Know your data (better)
Your code has raised another ValueError, but this time, instead of
complaining that there are “too many values,” the Python interpreter is
complaining that it doesn’t have enough data to work with: “need more than
1 value to unpack.” Hopefully, another quick look at the data will clear up the
mystery of the missing data.
Other Man: Now let's get one thing quite clear: I most definitely told you!
Man: Oh no you didn't!
Other Man: Oh yes I did!
Man: Oh no you didn't!
Other Man: Oh yes I did!
Man: Oh look, this isn't an argument!
(pause)
Other Man: Yes it is! What’s this?!? Some of the data doesn’t conform to
Man: No it isn’t! the expected format…which can’t be good.
(pause)
Man: It's just contradiction!
Other Man: No it isn't!
The case of the missing colon
Some of the lines of data contain no colon, which causes a problem when
the split() method goes looking for it. The lack of a colon prevents
split() from doing its job, causes the runtime error, which then results in
the complaint that the interpreter needs “more than 1 value.”
It looks like you still have
problems with the data in
your file. What a shame it’s
not in a standard format.
82 Chapter 3