def lowest(aList,ignoreThis):
    #Purpose: to find the position of the lowest item in aList
    #Parm 1: aList is a list of strings (not numbers)
    #Parm 2: ignoreThis must be "" i.e. nul
    #Result: returns the position of the lowest item
    # in aList
    #strings == ignoreThis are to be ignored
    #NB any nul entries in aList will be eliminated
    #NB the calling program must set the
    # lowest item to ignoreThis after each iteration
    
    
    #print("into lowest")
    #print("aList:",aList)
    #print("ignoreThis:",ignoreThis)
    posLowest=-1
    if aList==(""):
        print("Error aList contains 1 null item")
        return posLowest
    #if end


    if len(aList)==0:
        print("aList is  empty")
        return posLowest
    lowest=ignoreThis
    #print("lowest:",lowest)
    posThis=-1
    #print("find first item that is not null")
    rList= range(len(aList)) 
    for i in rList:
        #print("i:",i)
        if aList[i]>ignoreThis:
            #print(">")
            lowestItem=aList[i]
            posThis=i
        else:
            #print("not >")
            Doh=""
        #if end
    #print("posThis:",posThis)
    if posThis== -1 :
        Doh="!"
        #print("Error: Nothing > nul is in aList.")
    #if end
    #print("Good: posThis is position of a non-null item")
    
    #for end
    #print("posThis:",posThis)
    if posThis==-1 :
        #print("Done: aList contains all null entries")
        return posLowest
    else:
        Doh="!"
        #print("found at least one non-null item at position posThis:",posThis)
        #print("continuing to find lowest (or equal) non-null item")
        #return posThis
    #print("Now look for a lower (or equal) non-null item...")
    #print(". . . not coded yet . . .")
    for i in rList:
        #print("i:",i)
        if aList[i] == ignoreThis :
            Doh="!"
        else:
            if aList[i]<= lowestItem:
                lowestItem=aList[i]
                posThis=i
                #print("new lowestItem:",lowestItem)
            #if end
        #if end
    #for end
    #if ignore=-1
    #returns the position of the lowest item in aList
    # aList
    #ignoring all items = ignoreThis
    #returns -1 if no lowest item is found
    #try using
    return posThis
#def end