Recursion counter solution in python

Question

The basic idea of the program is that it searches a large list for a given string, notes its index, and assigns other words based upon that index. The major issue is that, as there are some requirements built into the system that reject certain words, a very large recursion depth is likely to occur. There may be solutions that circumvent this problem (which I would be very interested in seeing) by avoiding recursion altogether, but recursion seems to be the most elegant solution, especially as there will be several versions of this program, that handle more and more words and indexes. Therefore, the major question is, how is it possible to get it to count recursion, so that it can kick out of the function if a depth limit is reached? Ideally, this would be in a loop, so that it could start where it left off from after that, but that seems to be a different problem. As it is, the counters are resetting unexpectedly.

lines = open ('newkj')
corpus= []
for line in lines :
corpus.extend(line.split())

limit = 800000
globallimit=800000
count=0
count2=0

"""This one is unique as it carries the null case in it. It is also a forward facing no check function"""

def curgb (indexa=indexof('the'),count=0) :
    worda=wordfor (indexa)
    wordb = wordfor (indexa+1)
    indexb=indexof(wordb)
    wordc = wordfor (advance(indexa)+1)
    indexc=indexof (wordc)
    if indexa> globallimit:
        print ('no results')
        return (indexa)
    elif indexb<limit and indexc<limit:
        curgd (indexc,indexb,indexa,count2+1)
    else:
        curgb(advance(indexa),count+1)
"""This function is also forward facing no check"""

def curgd (indexc,indexb,indexa,count2=0):
    wordd = wordfor (indexc+1)
    indexd = indexof(wordd)
    indexd=check(indexd,indexb,-1)
    print(count2)
    if indexd<limit and indexc<limit and indexb< limit and wordfor(indexd-1)==wordfor(indexb):
        """print (wordfor(indexa),wordfor(indexb))
        print (wordfor(indexd),wordfor (indexc))
        print ('     ')"""
        curgd(advance(indexc),indexb,indexa,count2+1)
    else :
        curgb(advance(indexa),count+1)

As it is, this is simplified and not likely to hit a recursion limit, but the major problem of the counter resetting is still there. Running the program is a matter of calling curgb() with an integer argument, corresponding to a given index.

"""docstrings""" aren't # comments. And docstrings must be one the first line inside the function block. — Sven Marnach
– Sven Marnach, Commented Jun 20, 2011 at 16:03
This question lacks specificity. It should be moved to the code review site. — Apalala
– Apalala, Commented Jun 20, 2011 at 16:05

Charles Brunet · Accepted Answer · 2011-06-20 16:06:57Z

1

You seem to be mixing local and global variables.

In curgb, count2 variable isn't defined, and in curgd, count variable isn't defined. Either use global keywork to access them, or pass both variable as arguments to both functions (the later is what you should do)

answered Jun 20, 2011 at 16:06

Charles Brunet

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3 Comments

Michael Rauh Over a year ago

I had a feeling it was a global/local distinction. Thank you very much for your help.

Trufa Over a year ago

@MichaelRauh: Don'r forget to mark this answer as accepted if it helped you, please see faq if you have any questions... Thanks!

Michael Rauh Over a year ago

I tried to immediately, but it said I had to wait. It is done now.

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