Get user input as int or str

Question

I\'m very new to python and believe me, I\'ve searched endlessly for a solution to this but I just can\'t get it.

I have a csv with a list of monitoring plots. With the

Answer 1

choice = raw_input("Select a monitoring plot from the list: ")

if choice == 'q':
    break

plotSelect = int(choice)
selected = dataList[plotSelect+1]

Check if the user entered q and explicitly break out of the loop if they do (rather than relying on an exception being thrown). Only convert their input an int after this check.

Answer 2

Convert it into an integer after you check that it's not 'q':

try:
    response = raw_input("Select a monitoring plot from the list: ")

    if response == 'q':
        break

    selected = dataList[int(plotSelect) + 1]

    print 'You selected : ', selected[1]
    break
except ValueError:
    print "Error: Please enter a number between 0 and 9"