Eventually I will be able to post simple questions like this in a chat room, but for now I must post it. I am still struggling with comparison issues in Python. I have a list containing strings that I obtained from a file. I have a function which takes in the word list (previously created from a file) and some 'ciphertext'. I am trying to Brute Force crack the ciphertext using a Shift Cipher. My issue is the same as with comparing integers. Although I can see when trying to debug using print statements, that my ciphertext will be shifted to a word in the word list, it never evaluates to True. I am probably comparing two different variable types or a /n is probably throwing the comparison off. Sorry for all of the posts today, I am doing lots of practice problems today in preparation for an upcoming assignment.
def shift_encrypt(s, m):
shiftAmt = s % 26
msgAsNumList = string2nlist(m)
shiftedNumList = add_val_mod26(msgAsNumList, shiftAmt)
print 'Here is the shifted number list: ', shiftedNumList
# Take the shifted number list and convert it back to a string
numListtoMsg = nlist2string(shiftedNumList)
msgString = ''.join(numListtoMsg)
return msgString
def add_val_mod26(nlist, value):
newValue = value % 26
print 'Value to Add after mod 26: ', newValue
listLen = len(nlist)
index = 0
while index < listLen:
nlist[index] = (nlist[index] + newValue) % 26
index = index + 1
return nlist
def string2nlist(m):
characters = ['a','b','c','d','e','f','g','h','i','j','k','l','m','n','o','p','q','r','s','t','u','v','w','x','y','z']
numbers = [0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25]
newList = []
msgLen = len(m) # var msgLen will be an integer of the length
index = 0 # iterate through message length in while loop
while index < msgLen:
letter = m[index] # iterate through message m
i = 0
while i < 26:
if letter == characters[i]:
newList.append(numbers[i])
i = i + 1
index = index + 1
return newList
def nlist2string(nlist):
characters = ['a','b','c','d','e','f','g','h','i','j','k','l','m','n','o','p','q','r','s','t','u','v','w','x','y','z']
numbers = [0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25]
newList = []
nListLen = len(nlist)
index = 0
while index < nListLen:
num = nlist[index]
newNum = num % 26
i = 0
while i < 26:
num1 = newNum
num2 = numbers[i]
if (num1 == num2):
newList.append(characters[i])
i = i + 1
index = index + 1
return newList
def wordList(filename):
fileObject = open(filename, "r+")
wordsList = fileObject.readlines()
return wordsList
def shift_computePlaintext(wlist, c):
index = 0
while index < 26:
newCipher = shift_encrypt(index, c)
print 'The new cipher text is: ', newCipher
wordlistLen = len(wlist)
i = 0
while i < wordlistLen:
print wlist[i]
if newCipher == wlist[i]:
return newCipher
else:
print 'Word not found.'
i = i + 1
index = index + 1
print 'Take Ciphertext and Find Plaintext from Wordlist Function: \n'
list = wordList('test.txt')
print list
plainText = shift_computePlaintext(list, 'vium')
print 'The plaintext was found in the wordlist: ', plainText
When the shift amount = 18, the ciphertext = name which is a word in my wordlist, but it never evaluates to True. Thanks for any help in advance!!