Question

Consider the following function:

def get_largest(filename):
    input_file = open(filename, 'r')
    lines = input_file.readlines()
    input_file.close()
    largest = 0
    for line in lines:
        items_list = line.split()
        for element in items_list:
            value = float(element)
            if value > largest:
                largest = value
    return largest

The function takes a filename as a parameter and returns the largest number in the file as a float. Modify the above function and use a try-except-else block to handle exceptions that may occur and handle the FileNotFoundError in your solution. Note: remember to close the file properly if the file can be opened. You can assume that the minimum number in the file is -9999. If the file is empty the function returns -9999.

For example:

Test	Result
print(get_largest('numbers7.txt'))	6.0
print(get_largest('temp'))	ERROR: The file 'temp' does not exist.
print(get_largest('empty1.txt'))	-9999
print(get_largest('numbers_with_letters.txt'))	123.0

Answer 1

def get_largest(filename):
#input_file = open(filename, 'r')
#lines = input_file.readlines()
try:
with open(filename, 'r') as input_file:
lines = input_file.readlines()
highest= -9999
for i in range(0,len(lines)):
if highest < int(lines[i]):
highest = int(lines[i])
input_file.close()
return highest
except FileNotFoundError:
return "File not found. Check the path variable and filename"
exit()   

print(get_largest('numbers7.txt')) #when file has numbers each on a new line

#when the file is empty it returns -9999

#when the file is not where it returns a message