Trouble with FileExists

[Ganreizu]

Hi! First time poster long time lurker. Not sure if this section is appropriate, please forgive me if it's not.

I'm building an automation script for work and i'm having a bit of trouble with the FileExists function. Somehow it fails to identify existence, despite it definitely existing.

Code is included below. Basically these functions were activated through two separate hotkeys and they generate a PDF and ODS file. I want to have them link to each other so I only need to press one hotkey but to do that I need it to validate that the file has been generated. I am saving these files to a dropbox folder, but even if I save it locally it still doesn't verify existence. It can often take a couple seconds for the file to show up so I use a while loop which waits for a certain number of iterations before trying again, as sometimes openoffice fails to print PDFs for some inexplicable reason. 

I don't think the recursion is causing the problem, not sure if it's a syntax or logic error. 

Thanks very much!

 

expandcollapse popup

Func print()
   _BlockInputEx(1, "{ESC}")
   WinActivate($proposalwindow)
   Sleep(100)
   Send("{ENTER}")
   Sleep(300)
   Send("^p")
   Sleep(500)
   Send("{ENTER}")
   Sleep(500)
   Send($copy, 1)
   Sleep(200)
   Send("!s")
   Sleep(300)

   While $exist = 0
   Sleep(200)

   $exist = FileExists("C:\file path changed to protect the innocent\" & $copy & ".pdf")

   If $exist = 0 Then
      $sleep = $sleep + 1

      If $sleep = 30 Then
      print()
      EndIf
   EndIf
   WEnd

   $sleep = 0
   $exist = 0
   _BlockInputEx(0)

save()

EndFunc ;==> Uses hotkey to print proposal

Func save()
   _BlockInputEx(1, "{ESC}")
   WinActivate($proposalwindow)
   Sleep(100)
   Send("^+s")
   Sleep(1750)
   Send($copy)
   Sleep(500)
   Send("!s")
   Sleep(4000)

   While $exist = 0
   Sleep(200)

   $exist = FileExists("C:\file path changed to protect the innocent\" & $copy & ".ods")

   If $exist = 0 Then
      $sleep = $sleep + 1

      If $sleep = 30 Then
      save()
      EndIf
   EndIf
   WEnd

   MouseClick("left", 2200, 400, 1, 0)
   Sleep(200)
   Send("{DEL}")
   Sleep(100)

   $sleep = 0
   $exist = 0
   _BlockInputEx(0)

nextprop()

EndFunc ;==> Uses hotkey to save proposal

 

[orbs]

hello @Ganreizu, and welcome to the forum.

first thing comes to mind: are you sure $copy holds the correct value? i.e. the file name only, no path or extension?

[Ganreizu]

Just now, orbs said:

hello @Ganreizu, and welcome to the forum.

first thing comes to mind: are you sure $copy holds the correct value? i.e. the file name only, no path or extension?

Thanks

Yes i'm sure. $copy is a merged address which is validated in a separate function. It is used in the document itself, so file type within the variable in this instance would be unacceptable. I've been using these functions for some time and can confirm complete consistency in it's I/O. I wasn't sure if FileExists was catching the program extensions so I added the ".pdf"/".ods" into the function to make sure. It fails to validate existence regardless of if I include that. :/

Also I should mention that $exist and anything else is all declared and whatnot.  

[orbs]

logic issue: get rid of recursion. confusing, unnecessary, and makes code hard to follow.

logic question: in func print, you do nothing if $exist<>0. please explain.

[Ganreizu]

3 minutes ago, orbs said:

logic issue: get rid of recursion. confusing, unnecessary, and makes code hard to follow.

logic question: in func print, you do nothing if $exist<>0. please explain.

Recursion: Hmm okay I see your point. I only needed it to perform the initial print/saving steps again if FileExists failed after an arbitrary period of time. I suppose just pasting those steps into the loop rather than run recursion achieves the same goal.

Logic: The intention here is as explained in the first post. Openoffice calc is printing a PDF using microsoft print to pdf, as opposed to export as PDF, because these documents will be printed physically in the future. Occasionally, openoffice fails to print the PDF, meaning the file will never come into existence, so for a while loop that continues to check for if the file exists, it needs to have a counter that tracks how long it has been checking else we get an endless loop. Thus, if exist = 0, increment a counter where 1 = 200ms and re-perform the print actions when you've been checking FileExists for a total of 6000 ms. If the file does exist sometime within those 6 seconds, then break from the while and continue on. Problem is it never breaks from the while even if the file does exist. Hope that makes sense.

Here is the updated code removing unnecessary recursion:

expandcollapse popup

Func print()
   _BlockInputEx(1, "{ESC}")
   WinActivate($proposalwindow)
   Sleep(100)
   Send("{ENTER}")
   Sleep(300)
   Send("^p")
   Sleep(500)
   Send("{ENTER}")
   Sleep(500)
   Send($copy, 1)
   Sleep(200)
   Send("!s")
   Sleep(300)

   While $exist = 0
   Sleep(200)

   $exist = FileExists("C:\file path changed to protect the innocent\" & $copy & ".pdf")

   If $exist = 0 Then
      $sleep = $sleep + 1

      If $sleep = 30 Then
       WinActivate($proposalwindow)
       Sleep(100)
       Send("{ENTER}")
       Sleep(300)
       Send("^p")
       Sleep(500)
       Send("{ENTER}")
       Sleep(500)
       Send($copy, 1)
       Sleep(200)
       Send("!s")
       Sleep(300)
      EndIf
   EndIf
   WEnd

   $sleep = 0
   $exist = 0
   _BlockInputEx(0)

save()

EndFunc ;==> Uses hotkey to print proposal

Func save()
   _BlockInputEx(1, "{ESC}")
   WinActivate($proposalwindow)
   Sleep(100)
   Send("^+s")
   Sleep(1750)
   Send($copy)
   Sleep(500)
   Send("!s")
   Sleep(4000)

   While $exist = 0
   Sleep(200)

   $exist = FileExists("C:\file path changed to protect the innocent\" & $copy & ".ods")

   If $exist = 0 Then
      $sleep = $sleep + 1

      If $sleep = 30 Then
      WinActivate($proposalwindow)
      Sleep(100)
      Send("^+s")
      Sleep(1750)
      Send($copy)
      Sleep(500)
      Send("!s")
      Sleep(4000)
      EndIf
   EndIf
   WEnd

   WinActivate($proposalwindow)
   Sleep(100)
   MouseClick("left", 2200, 400, 1, 0)
   Sleep(200)
   Send("{DEL}")
   Sleep(100)

   $sleep = 0
   $exist = 0
   _BlockInputEx(0)

nextprop()

EndFunc ;==> Uses hotkey to save proposal

 

[Earthshine]

if the string that contains the path has spaces, make sure you are double quoting the entire path string properly.

[Ganreizu]

5 minutes ago, Earthshine said:

if the string that contains the path has spaces, make sure you are double quoting the entire path string properly.

It does. Both the path to the dropbox folder and the file name has spaces which I would prefer not to change. Can I get an example of proper double quoting? The FileExists help file doesn't show proper quoting, it only uses a single variable. The $copy variable is an address. So for example "123 Chrome Lane Detroit". Do I need to do string manipulation then?

[Earthshine]

Examples are right in the help file I’ll look later when I’m back at my desk

[AdamUL]

Here are some examples of proper quotes for each function call.  

$exist = FileExists('"C:\file path changed to protect the innocent\' & $copy & '.pdf"')

$exist = FileExists('"C:\file path changed to protect the innocent\' & $copy & '.ods"')

 

Adam

[Ganreizu]

1 hour ago, AdamUL said:

Here are some examples of proper quotes for each function call.  

$exist = FileExists('"C:\file path changed to protect the innocent\' & $copy & '.pdf"')

$exist = FileExists('"C:\file path changed to protect the innocent\' & $copy & '.ods"')

 

Adam

Thank you!

 

I updated the code to include this and it still doesn't fall through. HOWEVER,  I DID get it to work when I used StringStripWS to remove all whitespace in the file name and using a local file path with no whitespace. I guess FileExists just hates whitespace a lot? 

It's not a big deal if the file name and file path doesn't have whitespace, but it's kind of annoying to work around it like that. Any ideas on how to have it accept whitespace?

[AdamUL]

Then give this a try.  

$exist = FileExists(FileGetShortName('"C:\file path changed to protect the innocent\' & $copy & '.pdf"'))

$exist = FileExists(FileGetShortName('"C:\file path changed to protect the innocent\' & $copy & '.ods"'))

 

Adam

[Ganreizu]

9 minutes ago, AdamUL said:

Then give this a try.  

$exist = FileExists(FileGetShortName('"C:\file path changed to protect the innocent\' & $copy & '.pdf"'))

$exist = FileExists(FileGetShortName('"C:\file path changed to protect the innocent\' & $copy & '.ods"'))

 

Adam

Negative D:

[Jos]

Can we all take a step back here! FileExists() works fine with spaces in the path and or filename:

$file = "C:\Program Files (x86)\AutoIt3\Extras\Editors\TextPad\Manual Install and Notes.htm"
ConsoleWrite('FileExists(' & $file & ') = ' & FileExists($file) & @CRLF) ;### Debug Console

So it is now your turn to provide a scriptlet that shows it doesn't.

Jos

Edited February 1, 2018 by Jos

[Ganreizu]

23 minutes ago, Jos said:

Can we all take a step back here! FileExists() works fine with spaces in the path and or filename:

$file = "C:\Program Files (x86)\AutoIt3\Extras\Editors\TextPad\Manual Install and Notes.htm"
ConsoleWrite('FileExists(' & $file & ') = ' & FileExists($file) & @CRLF) ;### Debug Console

So it is now your turn to provide a scriptlet that shows it doesn't.

Jos

Truth. Thanks. This is what happens when you're an amateur with very little formal programming training.

So then I have figured out the problem methinks. I had narrowed down the behavior having something to do with whitespace. Clearly this wasn't something to do with FileExists, so I think the issue must have been with $copy. Because it's taking it's contents from a spreadsheet (address and town) which tends to have excess whitespaces, I used StringStripWS to remove leading+trailing whitespace before putting it through since when $copy is pasted into a save window those spaces would be removed during file creation, but included in FileExists. So by removing them it falls through! 

 

This is the code that performs as expected:

expandcollapse popup

Func print()
   _BlockInputEx(1, "{ESC}")
   $copy = StringStripWS($copy, $STR_STRIPLEADING + $STR_STRIPTRAILING)
   WinActivate($proposalwindow)
   Sleep(100)
   Send("{ENTER}")
   Sleep(300)
   Send("^p")
   Sleep(500)
   Send("{ENTER}")
   Sleep(500)
   Send($copy, 1)
   Sleep(500)
   Send("!s")
   Sleep(300)

   While $exist = 0
   Sleep(200)

   $exist = FileExists("C:\file path changed to protect the innocent\" & $copy & ".pdf")

   If $exist = 0 Then
      $sleep = $sleep + 1

      If $sleep = 30 Then
       $sleep = 0
       WinActivate($proposalwindow)
       Sleep(100)
       Send("{ENTER}")
       Sleep(300)
       Send("^p")
       Sleep(500)
       Send("{ENTER}")
       Sleep(500)
       Send($copy, 1)
       Sleep(200)
       Send("!s")
       Sleep(300)
      EndIf
   EndIf
   WEnd

   $sleep = 0
   $exist = 0
   _BlockInputEx(0)

save()

EndFunc ;==> Uses hotkey to print proposal

Func save()
   _BlockInputEx(1, "{ESC}")
   $copy = StringStripWS($copy, $STR_STRIPLEADING + $STR_STRIPTRAILING)
   WinActivate($proposalwindow)
   Sleep(100)
   Send("^+s")
   Sleep(1750)
   Send($copy, 1)
   Sleep(500)
   Send("!s")
   Sleep(4000)

   While $exist = 0
   Sleep(200)

   $exist = FileExists("C:\file path changed to protect the innocent\" & $copy & ".ods")


   If $exist = 0 Then
      $sleep = $sleep + 1

      If $sleep = 30 Then
      $sleep = 0
      WinActivate($proposalwindow)
      Sleep(100)
      Send("^+s")
      Sleep(1750)
      Send($copy)
      Sleep(500)
      Send("!s")
      Sleep(4000)
      EndIf
   EndIf
   WEnd

   WinActivate($proposalwindow)
   Sleep(100)
   MouseClick("left", 2200, 400, 1, 0)
   Sleep(200)
   Send("{DEL}")
   Sleep(100)

   $sleep = 0
   $exist = 0
   _BlockInputEx(0)

nextprop()

EndFunc ;==> Uses hotkey to save proposal

 

Thank you so much everyone!

[Earthshine]

nm

 

Edited February 1, 2018 by Earthshine