[BioPython] python equiv of perl's null operator <>

[Andrew Dalke]

Mike Cariaso:
> After moving from perl to python I find I miss the ability to do a
>
>                  while (<>) { }

Look at 'fileinput' in the standard library.

However, using it will be slower than using, say

try:
   args, filenames = getopt.getopt ...
except getopt.error:
   ...

if not filenames:
   filenames = ["-"]

for filename in filenames:
   if filename == "-":
     infile = sys.stdin
   else:
     infile = file(filename)
   for line in infile:

     ...

because 'fileinput' also preserves the line number, in-place filtering,
and a few other perl-isms, implemented in Python, and not C as Perl 
does it.

					Andrew
					dalke at dalkescientific.com