How to search for a string in text files?

Question

I want to check if a string is in a text file. If it is, do X. If it\'s not, do Y. However, this code always returns True for some reason. Can anyone see what i

Answer 1

Your check function should return the found boolean and use that to determine what to print.

def check():
        datafile = file('example.txt')
        found = False
        for line in datafile:
            if blabla in line:
                found = True
                break

        return found

found = check()
if found:
    print "true"
else:
    print "false"

the second block could also be condensed to:

if check():
    print "true"
else:
    print "false"