Is there a way to index a tweet with Tweepy?

Question

I'm trying to script a Twitter bot that will respond to mentions that have equations in them. First, I got the mentions to work (it would respond to anyone who mentions it). Then, I tried to implement the math function which uses regex (I had already created this, it was just a means of integrating it into the main bot program).

The Code for Mentions:

import mathbotcreds as mtc
import logging
import re
import tweepy
from time import sleep as wait

auth = tweepy.OAuthHandler(mtc.CONSUMER_KEY, mtc.CONSUMER_SECRET)
auth.set_access_token(mtc.ACCESS_TOKEN, mtc.ACCESS_SECRET)

api = tweepy.API(auth, wait_on_rate_limit=True,
                 wait_on_rate_limit_notify=True,
                 retry_count=2)

try:
    api.verify_credentials()
    print("Authentication Successful!")
except:
    print("Error during authentication! :(")
    
mentions = api.mentions_timeline()
pattern = r'([0-9]+.*[-+*/%].*[0-9]+)+' 

logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)
logger = logging.getLogger()

def check_mentions(api, since_id):
    logger.info("Collecting mentions... ")
    new_since_id = since_id
    for tweet in tweepy.Cursor(api.mentions_timeline, since_id=since_id).items():
        new_since_id = max(tweet.id, new_since_id)
        
        if tweet.in_reply_to_status_id is not None:
            continue
        
            api.update_status(
                status=f"Hello! \n\nIt worked! \nYay! ^-^ \n\n (You said: \"{tweet.text}\".)",
                in_reply_to_status_id=tweet.id) 
        
    return new_since_id

def main():
    since_id = 1
    while True:
        since_id = check_mentions(api, since_id)
        logger.info("Waiting... ")
        wait(15) 
        
if __name__ == "__main__":
    logger.info("Running script... ")
    wait(1) 
    main()
    
# for m in mentions:
#     api.update_status(f"@{m.user.screen_name} Hello! \nYou said: \n{m.text}", m.id)
#     wait(15) 

---

The Code for Mentions and Equations Functions:

import mathbotcreds as mtc
import logging
import re
import tweepy
from time import sleep as wait

auth = tweepy.OAuthHandler(mtc.CONSUMER_KEY, mtc.CONSUMER_SECRET)
auth.set_access_token(mtc.ACCESS_TOKEN, mtc.ACCESS_SECRET)

api = tweepy.API(auth, wait_on_rate_limit=True,
                 wait_on_rate_limit_notify=True,
                 retry_count=2)

try:
    api.verify_credentials()
    print("Authentication Successful!")
except:
    print("Error during authentication! :(")
    
mentions = api.mentions_timeline()
pattern = r'([0-9]+.*[-+*/%].*[0-9]+)+' 

logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)
logger = logging.getLogger()

def check_mentions(api, since_id):
    logger.info("Collecting mentions... ")
    new_since_id = since_id
    for tweet in tweepy.Cursor(api.mentions_timeline, since_id=since_id).items():
        match = re.search(pattern, tweet.text)
        equation = tweet.text[match.start():match.end()] 
        new_since_id = max(tweet.id, new_since_id)
        
        if tweet.in_reply_to_status_id is not None:
            continue
        
        if match:
            ans = eval(tweet.text[match.start():match.end()]) 
            api.update_status(
                status=f"The answer to {str(equation)} is {ans}. ",
                in_reply_to_status_id=tweet.id)
        elif not match:
            api.update_status(
                status=f"Hello! \n\nIt worked! \nYay! ^-^ \n\n (You said: \"{tweet.text}\".)",
                in_reply_to_status_id=tweet.id) 
        
    return new_since_id

def main():
    since_id = 1
    while True:
        since_id = check_mentions(api, since_id)
        logger.info("Waiting... ")
        wait(15) 
        
if __name__ == "__main__":
    logger.info("Running script... ")
    wait(1) 
    main()
    
# for m in mentions:
#     api.update_status(f"@{m.user.screen_name} Hello! \nYou said: \n{m.text}", m.id)
#     wait(15) 

When I run this, I get an error stating, AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'start' on the eval() function (equation = tweet.text[match.start():match.end()]). I have researched this and how to index tweet text (with Tweepy). I'm confused as to why I get a NoneType error if I have a function directly above the eval() function. Shouldn't this catch that? Why does this happen?

Thanks!

Answer 1

re.search returns a NoneType when it doesn't find a match. You should check the return value before using it, like this:

match = re.search(pattern, tweet.text)
if match:
    equation = tweet.text[match.start():match.end()]