Python script to convert .srt file to .txt file containing just the text as a data blob.

srt_to_txt.py

"""
    About:
        Looks in the given directory for any .srt (transcript) files to convert to a simple,
        single line of text with timestamps and numbered lines removed.

    Command line execution:
        python srt_to_txt.py <source_directory> <file_encoding>

            @:param <source_directory> is the location of the .srt file(s)
            @:param <file_encoding> defaults to 'utf-8'

    Output:
        The result is that any file of type .srt in the directory is converted to a .txt file
        of the same name, placed in a (dedicated) nested directory created to store such files.

    Assumptions:
        - lines beginning with lowercase letters or commas are part of the previous line
        - lines beginning with any other character are new lines

    Tested with Python 3.7
"""

import os
import re
import sys


def is_timestamp(l):
    return True if l[:2].isnumeric() and l[2] == ':' else False


def is_text_content(line):
    return True if re.search('[a-zA-Z]', line) else False


def has_no_text(line):
    if not len(line):
        return True
    if line.isnumeric():
        return True
    if is_timestamp(line):
        return True
    if line[0] == '(' and line[-1] == ')':
        return True
    if not is_text_content(line):
        return True
    return False


def filter_lines(lines):
    """ Remove timestamps, any lines without text, and line breaks """
    new_lines = []
    for line in lines[1:]:
        line = line.strip()
        if has_no_text(line):
            continue
        else:
            # Strip the line of text before adding it to the list
            new_lines.append(line)

    # Combine the lines into a single data string
    return ' '.join(new_lines)


def file_srt_to_txt(file_name, cur_dir, new_dir, encoding):
    with open(os.path.join(cur_dir, file_name), 'r', encoding=encoding, errors='replace') as f:
        data = filter_lines(f.readlines())
    new_file_name = os.path.join(cur_dir, new_dir, file_name[:-4]) + '.txt'
    with open(new_file_name, 'w') as f:
        f.write(data)


def main(args):
    # Get the source directory name
    dir_path = args[1]
    if not os.path.isdir(dir_path):
        print('Enter a valid directory path')
        exit()

    # NOTE: If a lot of [?]s appear in the output, try setting file_encoding to 'cp1252'
    encoding = 'utf-8' if len(args) < 3 else args[2]

    # Create a dedicated directory for the converted files
    new_dir = 'srt_to_txt'
    try:
        os.makedirs(os.path.join(dir_path, new_dir))
    except FileExistsError:
        # Directory already exists
        pass

    with os.scandir(dir_path) as dir_it:
        for file_entry in dir_it:
            if file_entry.name.endswith(".srt") and file_entry.is_file():
                file_srt_to_txt(file_entry.name, dir_path, new_dir, encoding)


if __name__ == '__main__':
    main(sys.argv)