Common problems (and solutions!)

The majority of errors that we have encountered when using macroeco and MacroecoDesktop have to do with improperly formatted strings given as arguments to the empirical functions (Empirical (macroeco.empirical)). See below for some common errors and examples.

If you are running MacroecoDesktop and something is not working, check the log file _log.txt that is saved in the results folder. This will contain information on the analysis. If you see a message similar to the following

Possible formatting error(s) in parameters.txt: parameters ['divs'] on lines [15]

you likely have an improperly formatted cols, divs, or splits parameter in your parameter file. Double check the parameter on the given line to make sure it is properly formatted.

Note

What is proper formatting? Check out Using macroeco and Using MacroecoDesktop for some examples and Empirical (macroeco.empirical) for method documentation. Here are some quick rules for subset, cols, splits, and divs.

  1. All parameters are semi-colon separated strings in the form "item1; item2; item3"
  2. For cols and splits each “item” is a colon separated pair: cols="spp_col:spp; count_col:count" or splits="year:split; row:2"
  3. For splits each item is comparison operator: splits = "row>=3; year==2010"
  4. For divs each item is a comma separated pair: divs = "1, 1" or divs = "1, 1; 2, 2; 2, 1"

Common Errors

Here are some errors that result from improperly formatted strings and how to fix them.

  1. IndexError: list index out of range

This is probably the most common error you will get when using macroeco. It probably occurred because cols string is not properly formatted. For example, check out the following code

>>> import macroeco as meco
>>> pat = meco.empirical.Patch("ANBO.txt")
>>> sad = meco.empirical.sad(pat, cols="spp_col;spp; count_col:count", splits="")
IndexError: list index out of range

The cols string "spp_col;spp; count_col:count" is not properly formatted. This string should contain a semi-colon separated list with colon separated pairs. In this case, change the first ; to : and things will work

>>> sad = meco.empirical.sad(pat, cols="spp_col:spp; count_col:count", splits="")

You might have also gotten this error if you were using the empirical.sar function and have a typo in the divs string. For example,

>>> sar = meco.empirical.sar(pat, cols="spp_col:spp; count_col:count; x_col:row; y_col:column", splits="", divs="1,1; 1:2")
IndexError: list index out of range

The divs list should read "1,1; 1,2" (switching out the colon for a comma). Similarly, if you only want to calculate the species richness at one area, the divs string should read "1,1".

Note

If you are using MacroecoDesktop, both of these errors will output a warning message to your _log.txt file as described above.

  1. ValueError: need more than 1 value to unpack

This is another common error you may see and it is exactly the same as the one described above, but in this case there is likely a problem with your splits string. For example, check out the following code

>>> import macroeco as meco
>>> pat = meco.empirical.Patch("ANBO.txt")
>>> sad = meco.empirical.sad(pat, cols="spp_col:spp; count_col:count", splits="year:split; column,4")
ValueError: need more than 1 value to unpack

Notice that the splits string is not formatted properly. This should string should contain colon pairs separated by semicolons. Notice the , after column. Make the following change and it will work

>>> sad = meco.empirical.sad(pat, cols="spp_col:spp; count_col:count", splits="year:split; column:4")

If you are using MacroecoDesktop, both of this error will output a warning message to your _log.txt file as described above.

  1. KeyError

This probably happened because one of the column names in the strings is misnamed. For example,

>>>  sad = meco.empirical.sad(pat, cols="spp_col:spp; count_col:coun", splits="year:split; column:4")
KeyError: 'coun'

In this case, we misspelled count as coun and macroeco could not find it. This could happen in your cols parameters or your splits parameter.

Similarly, if you misname a column in subset you will also see a KeyError. For example

>>> import macroeco as meco
>>> pat = meco.empirical.Patch("ANBO.txt", subset="rw>2; year==2010")
KeyError: "Column 'rw' not found"

rw needs to be changed to row (because that is what it is called in ANBO.txt)

Warning

If you are running MacroecoDesktop and your analysis never “completes” and you don’t see any error displayed, check the log file or the MacroecoDesktop output widow for a message similar to Possible formatting error(s) in parameters.txt: parameters ['divs'] on lines [15]