If you try this:
string.atol("%s"%(string.atol("250")))
you get:
ValueError: invalid literal for atol()
What essentially happens is that the conversion from long to
string generates a string rep of appended by an 'L', and atol
barfs when it sees the 'L'.
Are there other The
Breaking it down into pieces
string.atol("250")
yields
250L <of type long integer>
Adding a layer:
"%s"%(string.atol("250"))
yields
'250L'
Then finally,
string.atol('250L')
fails.