Dive Into Python

Example 14.6. roman3.py

This file is available in py/roman/stage3/ in the examples directory.

If you have not already done so, you can download this and other examples used in this book.

"""Convert to and from Roman numerals"""

#Define exceptions
class RomanError(Exception): pass
class OutOfRangeError(RomanError): pass
class NotIntegerError(RomanError): pass
class InvalidRomanNumeralError(RomanError): pass

#Define digit mapping
romanNumeralMap = (('M',  1000),
                   ('CM', 900),
                   ('D',  500),
                   ('CD', 400),
                   ('C',  100),
                   ('XC', 90),
                   ('L',  50),
                   ('XL', 40),
                   ('X',  10),
                   ('IX', 9),
                   ('V',  5),
                   ('IV', 4),
                   ('I',  1))

def toRoman(n):
    """convert integer to Roman numeral"""
    if not (0 < n < 4000):                                             
        raise OutOfRangeError, "number out of range (must be 1..3999)" 
    if int(n) <> n:                                                    
        raise NotIntegerError, "non-integers can not be converted"

    result = ""                                                        
    for numeral, integer in romanNumeralMap:
        while n >= integer:
            result += numeral
            n -= integer
    return result

def fromRoman(s):
    """convert Roman numeral to integer"""
    pass

	This is a nice Pythonic shortcut: multiple comparisons at once. This is equivalent to if not ((0 < n) and (n < 4000)), but it's much easier to read. This is the range check, and it should catch inputs that are too large, negative, or zero.
	You raise exceptions yourself with the raise statement. You can raise any of the built-in exceptions, or you can raise any of your custom exceptions that you've defined. The second parameter, the error message, is optional; if given, it is displayed in the traceback that is printed if the exception is never handled.
	This is the non-integer check. Non-integers can not be converted to Roman numerals.
	The rest of the function is unchanged.

Example 14.7. Watching toRoman handle bad input

>>> import roman3
>>> roman3.toRoman(4000)
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<interactive input>", line 1, in ?
  File "roman3.py", line 27, in toRoman
    raise OutOfRangeError, "number out of range (must be 1..3999)"
OutOfRangeError: number out of range (must be 1..3999)
>>> roman3.toRoman(1.5)
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<interactive input>", line 1, in ?
  File "roman3.py", line 29, in toRoman
    raise NotIntegerError, "non-integers can not be converted"
NotIntegerError: non-integers can not be converted

Example 14.8. Output of romantest3.py against roman3.py

fromRoman should only accept uppercase input ... FAIL
toRoman should always return uppercase ... ok
fromRoman should fail with malformed antecedents ... FAIL
fromRoman should fail with repeated pairs of numerals ... FAIL
fromRoman should fail with too many repeated numerals ... FAIL
fromRoman should give known result with known input ... FAIL
toRoman should give known result with known input ... ok 
fromRoman(toRoman(n))==n for all n ... FAIL
toRoman should fail with non-integer input ... ok        
toRoman should fail with negative input ... ok           
toRoman should fail with large input ... ok
toRoman should fail with 0 input ... ok

	toRoman still passes the known values test, which is comforting. All the tests that passed in stage 2 still pass, so the latest code hasn't broken anything.
	More exciting is the fact that all of the bad input tests now pass. This test, testNonInteger, passes because of the int(n) <> n check. When a non-integer is passed to toRoman, the int(n) <> n check notices it and raises the NotIntegerError exception, which is what testNonInteger is looking for.
	This test, testNegative, passes because of the not (0 < n < 4000) check, which raises an OutOfRangeError exception, which is what testNegative is looking for.

======================================================================
FAIL: fromRoman should only accept uppercase input
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\docbook\dip\py\roman\stage3\romantest3.py", line 156, in testFromRomanCase
    roman3.fromRoman, numeral.lower())
  File "c:\python21\lib\unittest.py", line 266, in failUnlessRaises
    raise self.failureException, excName
AssertionError: InvalidRomanNumeralError
======================================================================
FAIL: fromRoman should fail with malformed antecedents
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\docbook\dip\py\roman\stage3\romantest3.py", line 133, in testMalformedAntecedent
    self.assertRaises(roman3.InvalidRomanNumeralError, roman3.fromRoman, s)
  File "c:\python21\lib\unittest.py", line 266, in failUnlessRaises
    raise self.failureException, excName
AssertionError: InvalidRomanNumeralError
======================================================================
FAIL: fromRoman should fail with repeated pairs of numerals
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\docbook\dip\py\roman\stage3\romantest3.py", line 127, in testRepeatedPairs
    self.assertRaises(roman3.InvalidRomanNumeralError, roman3.fromRoman, s)
  File "c:\python21\lib\unittest.py", line 266, in failUnlessRaises
    raise self.failureException, excName
AssertionError: InvalidRomanNumeralError
======================================================================
FAIL: fromRoman should fail with too many repeated numerals
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\docbook\dip\py\roman\stage3\romantest3.py", line 122, in testTooManyRepeatedNumerals
    self.assertRaises(roman3.InvalidRomanNumeralError, roman3.fromRoman, s)
  File "c:\python21\lib\unittest.py", line 266, in failUnlessRaises
    raise self.failureException, excName
AssertionError: InvalidRomanNumeralError
======================================================================
FAIL: fromRoman should give known result with known input
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\docbook\dip\py\roman\stage3\romantest3.py", line 99, in testFromRomanKnownValues
    self.assertEqual(integer, result)
  File "c:\python21\lib\unittest.py", line 273, in failUnlessEqual
    raise self.failureException, (msg or '%s != %s' % (first, second))
AssertionError: 1 != None
======================================================================
FAIL: fromRoman(toRoman(n))==n for all n
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\docbook\dip\py\roman\stage3\romantest3.py", line 141, in testSanity
    self.assertEqual(integer, result)
  File "c:\python21\lib\unittest.py", line 273, in failUnlessEqual
    raise self.failureException, (msg or '%s != %s' % (first, second))
AssertionError: 1 != None
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ran 12 tests in 0.401s

FAILED (failures=6) 

You're down to 6 failures, and all of them involve fromRoman: the known values test, the three separate bad input tests, the case check, and the sanity check. That means that toRoman has passed all the tests it can pass by itself. (It's involved in the sanity check, but that also requires that fromRoman be written, which it isn't yet.) Which means that you must stop coding toRoman now. No tweaking, no twiddling, no extra checks “just in case”. Stop. Now. Back away from the keyboard.