how to count spaces in a file in python?

[thistle]

I want to write a function that takes a file and a character and returns the number of character, the character is space for example.I wrote the code below but it doesn't work.

def c (file, char):
    f = open ('file1.txt', 'r')
    s = f.read()
    i = 0
    for char in s:
        i += 1

[bvdet]

Maybe this will help. I have a string s with 2 commas in it.

>>> char = ","
>>> i = 0
>>> for letter in s:
... 	if letter == char:
... 		i+=1
... 		
>>> i
2
>>>

Return the character count i at the end of the function definition.

    return i

[thistle]

thanks. but I want a function and it should take a file not a string. How should I write a function?

[bvdet]

It won't help you if I write the function for you. You already have a string assigned to s in the function you wrote. I gave you the for loop to count the characters. Substitute it for your for loop and add the return statement. BTW, anytime you create an open file object, it is good practice to close it when you are done. Otherwise you could read the file without creating a file object:

s = open('file1.txt').read()

[thistle]

def C (file, char):
    f = open ('file1.txt', 'r')
    s = f.read()
    i = 0
    for ch in s:
        if ch == char:
            i += 1
    return i

[bvdet]

thistle,

Please use code tags when posting code.

Don't forget the close the file object.
f.close()