Can I Replace Part of a Python "If" Statement with a Variablized String Literal?

Question

I have a very long question with what may be a very short answer.

I'm very new to Python (almost two weeks, now) but I've used VBScript for many years so I understand many of the basic concepts.

I've searched Stack Overflow and the internet for a solution but haven't been able to find anything; I'm not sure if this is even possible in Python, but I'd be a bit surprised if it's not. I've written a file-search program using Python3 that allows users to search their computer for files. The user can choose to search based on several different parameters: name, size range, date-modified range and, for non-Linux systems, date-created range. The search functionaly works quite well for each individual parameter as well as for combinations of parameters (which, by the way, is in no small part thanks to the many answers / discussions I've found here on Stack Overflow). My problem is that the actual search is rather inelegant and, I believe, slower than it could be. The program uses flags (NOT true Python flags, that's just what I happen to call them) to set the search options. Let me illustrate with some pseudo code:

    # Variables get their values from user entry
    sName = "test" # string to search for
    sMinSize = 2 # minimum search-by size in MB
    sMaxSize = 15 # maximum search-by size in MB
    sModded1 = 2008-01-23 # earliest modified-by date
    sModded2 = 2017-08-22 # latest modified-by date

    sCreated1 = 2008-01-23 # earliest created-by date
    sCreated2 = 2017-08-22 # latest created-by date

    # Search parameters - choosing one of these changes the value from 0 to 1:
    flagName = 0 # search by name
    flagSize = 0 # search by size
    flagModified = 0 # search by last modified date
    flagCreated = 0 # search by last created date

    for root, dirs, files in os.walk(strPath, followlinks=False):
        for fName in files:
            fileDate = os.path.getmtime(fName)
            fileSize = os.stat(fName).st_size
            if flagName = 1:
                    if fName.find(sName) > 0:
                        do_stuff
            elif flagSize = 1:        
                    if sMinSize < fileSize < sMaxSize:
                        do_stuff
            elif flagName = 1 and flagSize = 1:
                    if fName.find(sName) > 0 and if sMinSize < fileSize < sMaxSize:
                        do_stuff
    ... etc

That's only for 3 possible combinations - there are 14 total. While I don't really have a problem with typing all the combinations out, I believe this would severely impact the speed and efficiency of the search.

I've thought of another solution that is a bit more elegant and would probably execute faster, but I still think there's a better method:

    if flagName = 1:
        for root, dirs, files in os.walk(strPath, followlinks=False):
            for fName in files:
                fileDate = os.path.getmtime(fName)
                fileSize = os.stat(fName).st_size
                if fName.find(sName) > 0:
                    do_stuff

    elif flagName = 1 and flagSize = 1:
        for root, dirs, files in os.walk(strPath, followlinks=False):
            for fName in files:
                fileDate = os.path.getmtime(fName)
                fileSize = os.stat(fName).st_size
                if fName.find(sName) > 0 and if sMinSize < fileSize < sMaxSize:
                    do_stuff
    ... etc

Again, this is a bit more elegant and (I believe) a great deal more efficient, but still not ideal. What I'd like to do is create ONE "if" statement based on the user's search criteria and use that to conduct the search (note that something similar is possible in VBScript). These statements would go BEFORE the search statements take place:

Possible option 1:

    if flagName = 1:
        iClause = "fName.find(sName) > 0"
    elif flagName = 1 and flagSize = 1:
        iClause = "fName.find(sName) > 0 and if sMinSize < fileSize < sMaxSize"
    ... etc

Possible option 2:

    flagClause = 0
    if flagName = 1:
        iClause = "fName.find(sName) > 0"
        flagClause = flagClause + 1
    if flagClause = 0
        iClause = "sMinSize < fileSize < sMaxSize"
    else:
        iClause = iClause + "and sMinSize < fileSize < sMaxSize"
        flagClause = flagClause + 1
    ... etc

And then plug "iClause" in to my search statement like so:

    for root, dirs, files in os.walk(strPath, followlinks=False):
        for fName in files:
            fileDate = os.path.getmtime(fName)
            fileSize = os.stat(fName).st_size
            if **iClause**:
                do_stuff

This would streamline the code, making it easier to read and maintain and (I believe) make it more efficient and speedy.

Is this possible with Python?

---

Edit:

I thank all of you for taking the time to read my lengthy question, but I don't believe you got what I was asking - most likely due to its (over)verbosity.

I would like to know how to implement the following:

    a = "sMinSize < fileSize < sMaxSize"
    b = "and sMinSize < fileSize < sMaxSize"
    iClause = a+b

Then plug 'iClause' into my "if" statement as follows:

    if iClause:
        do_stuff

This would basically be turning a string literal into a variable, then using that variablized (probably not a real word) string literal as my statement. I hope that was clearer.

Answer 1

Create a predicate function, one for each case. Determine what cases you're using and use the associated predicate. Collect chosen predicates in a list (or compose them into a new predicate) then apply in your loop:

predicates = []
if flagName:
    predicates.append(lambda fileName: fileName.find(sName) > 0)
if flagSize:
    predicates.append(lambda fileName: sMinSize < os.stat(fileName).st_size < sMaxSize)
if flagModified:
    predicates.append(lambda fileName: sModded1 < os.path.getmtime(fileName) < sModded2)
if flagCreated:
    predicates.append(lambda fileName: sCreated1 < os.path.getctime(fileName) < sCreated2)

for root, dirs, files in os.walk(strPath, followlinks=False):
    for fName in files:
        if all(p(fName) for p in predicates):
            # do stuff

You may want to use a named function instead of a lambda depending on your preferences. And for more complex scenarios, you may want to implement these as functors instead.

Answer 2

Here's a bit of lateral thinking. If you look for things that match criteria, they must all match. But if you look for things that don't match, just one needs to be wrong to disqualify. So you don't need to write complex queries; just checking one option at a time is good enough. And you can do it in a loop!

# supplied by user (you might want to look into argparse)
options = {
    "name": "jpg"
    "minsize": "1024"
}

# checking code
option_checkers: {
    "name": lambda fName, limit: fName.find(limit) != -1
    "minsize": lambda fName, limit: limit <= os.stat(fName).st_size
    "maxsize": lambda fName, limit: os.stat(fName).st_size < limit
}

def okay(fName, options):
    for option, limit in options.items():
        if not option_checkers[option](fName, limit)
             return False
    return True

for root, dirs, files in os.walk(strPath, followlinks=False):
    for fName in files:
        if okay(fName, options):
            # fits all criteria: do stuff

Answer 3

I've found the solution - the "eval()" function. This will do exactly what I've been looking for. With this I can define my search fragments and write several short "if" statements that look like this:

flagClause = 0
if flagName = 1:
    iClause = "fName.find(sName) > 0"
    flagClause = flagClause + 1
if flagClause = 0
    iClause = "sMinSize < fileSize < sMaxSize"
else:
    iClause = iClause + "and sMinSize < fileSize < sMaxSize"
    flagClause = flagClause + 1
... etc

Now that my search string has been put together, I plug it into my "for" loop:

for root, dirs, files in os.walk(strPath, followlinks=False):
    for fName in files:
        fileDate = os.path.getmtime(fName)
        fileSize = os.stat(fName).st_size
        if eval(iClause):
            do_stuff

With my search string created before the "for" loop begins, it doesn't have to leave the loop to check for each condition. This should be a relatively efficient search.

Now ... does anybody see anything wrong with this solution?

Final Edit:

Per the advice (and admonition) I've received, the "eval" function was not my solution. Instead, I used the method suggested by Jeff. His solution is faster, more efficient and easier to maintain.

Thanks again for everyone's input and advice!