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Ihtesham Haider
Ihtesham Haider

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Python beginner Project: Calendar Builder

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Hey, hi today we're gonna make a nice looking printable text file of monthly calendars for the month and year you desire.

Don't scare from dates and calendars, yes, they are some tricky topic in programming because there are so many different rules for condioning the number of the days in a month, which years are leap years, and which day of the week a particular date falls on.

Thankfully, Python's datetime module handles these details for us. We will generate a multiline string for the monthly calendar page.

Are you still with me, if yes, let's make this shit!!

Things you need to make This Calendar Builder are:

First steps:
Make a file Caledar_builder.py
Now Code:

import datetime
# Set up the constants:
DAYS = ('Sunday', 'Monday', 'Tuesday', 'Wednesday', 'Thursday',
        'Friday', 'Saturday')
MONTHS = ('January', 'February', 'March', 'April', 'May', 'June', 'July',
          'August', 'September', 'October', 'November', 'December')

print('|| Calender-Builder ||')

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  • import datetime which is a python module. If you don't know about it Check this.
  • Setting up the constants Days name and months name.
  • Print the Calender Builder.

After this

while True:  # Loop to get a year from the user.
    print('Enter the year for the calendar:')
    response = input('> ')

    if response.isdecimal() and int(response) > 0:
        year = int(response)
        break

    print('Please enter a numeric year, like 2023.')
    continue

while True:  # Loop to get a month from the user.
    print('Enter the month for the calendar, 1-12:')
    response = input('> ')

    if not response.isdecimal():
        print('Please enter a numeric month, like 3 for March.')
        continue

    month = int(response)
    if 1 <= month <= 12:
        break

    print('Please enter a number from 1 to 12.')
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  • First loop is to get the year from the user
    • print the message
  • response variable contains input which will appear to the user to give Answer like the Year (2050)
  • if condition to see the user put correct answer or not! by saying this I mean numeric value

The second loop:

  • Second loop is to get the month from the user.
  • And if statement to look up to the input of the user......

After this

def getCalendarFor(year, month):
    calText = '' 

    calText += (' ' * 34) + MONTHS[month - 1] + ' ' + str(year) + '\n'

    calText += '...Sun.....Mon....Tue..Wed...Thur....Fri....Sat..\n'

    weekSeparator = ('+----------' * 7) + '+\n'

    blankRow = ('|          ' * 7) + '|\n'
    currentDate = datetime.date(year, month, 1)
    while currentDate.weekday() != 6:
        currentDate -= datetime.timedelta(days=1)

    while True:  # Loop over each week in the month.
        calText += weekSeparator
        dayNumberRow = ''
        for i in range(7):
            dayNumberLabel = str(currentDate.day).rjust(2)
            dayNumberRow += '|' + dayNumberLabel + (' ' * 8)
            currentDate += datetime.timedelta(days=1) # Go to next day.
        dayNumberRow += '|\n'  # Add the vertical line after Saturday.

        # Add the day number row and 3 blank rows to the calendar text.
        calText += dayNumberRow
        for i in range(3):  # (!) Try changing the 4 to a 5 or 10.
            calText += blankRow

        # Check if we're done with the month:
        if currentDate.month != month:
            break

    # Add the horizontal line at the very bottom of the calendar.
    calText += weekSeparator
    return calText

calText = getCalendarFor(year, month)
print(calText)  # Display the calendar.

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Are you still with me this one will be a bit big!

  • def (declaration of Python function) getCalendarFor(year, month) will get the year and month.
  • calText will contain the string of our calendar.
  • 3 line will Put the month and year at the top of the calendar:
  • 4 line Add the days of the week labels to the calendar:
    • Try to change the abbreviations to SUN, MON and so forth to the week days if you want.
  • weekSeparator The horizontal line string that separate weeks:
  • blankRow The blank rows have ten spaces in between the | day separators:
  • while currentDate.weekday() != 6: Get the first date in the month. (The datetime module handles all the complicated calendar stuff for us here.)
    • currentDate = datetime.date(year, month, 1) Roll back currentDate until it is Sunday. (weekday() returns 6 for Sunday, not 0.)
  • dayNumberRow is the row with the day number labels:
  • for i in range(3): (!) Try changing the 4 to a 5 or 10.
  • calText = getCalendarFor(year, month) print(calText) # Display the calendar.

    To save the printed code in a file

# Save the calendar to a text file:
calendarFilename = 'calendar_{}_{}.txt'.format(year, month)
with open(calendarFilename, 'w') as fileObj:
    fileObj.write(calText)

print('Saved to ' + calendarFilename)
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Check the code and then give me Reply!
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