def checkDigit(char): digits=['1','2','3','4','5','6','7','8','9'] for j in range(len(digits)): if char==digits[j]: return char return None def checkYear(file): with open(file, "r", encoding="utf-8") as sampleCheck: line = 0 lineCount = 0 flag =0 for row in sampleCheck: line += 1 date = '' for char in row.lower(): if char=='1': flag = 1 date += char elif flag==1 and char=='9': flag=2 date += char elif flag==2 and char==checkDigit(char): flag=3 date += char elif flag==3 and char==checkDigit(char): flag=4 date += char elif flag==4 and char==' ': flag=5 date+=char elif flag==5 and char=='r': flag=6 date+=char elif flag==6 and char=='.': flag=7 date+=char if flag==7: flag =0 date='' print(line) file = 'simple.in' checkYear(file)