Python : File I/O

reading and writing files

CT108-3-1 Programming With

Python (PYP)
 Topic & Structure of the lesson

• Reading and writing files

– Creating a text file
– Opening files in different modes
– Writing data into a file
– Reading from a file
– Searching through a file

CT010-3-1 Fundamentals of Software Development Python Files I/O

 Learning outcomes

• At the end of this lecture you should be

able to:
– Develop a problem-based strategy for
creating and applying programmed solutions
– Create, edit, compile, run, debug and test
programs using an appropriate development
environment

CT010-3-1 Fundamentals of Software Development Python Files I/O

 Key terms you must be able to
use
• If you have mastered this topic, you should
be able to use the following terms correctly
in your assignments and exams:

– open

CT010-3-1 Fundamentals of Software Development Python Files I/O

 File Processing

• A text file can be thought of as a

sequence of lines
From [Link]@[Link] Sat Jan 5 09:14:16 2008
Return-Path: <postmaster@[Link]>
Date: Sat, 5 Jan 2008 09:12:18 -0500To:
source@[Link]:
[Link]@[Link]: [sakai] svn commit:
r39772 - content/branches/Details:
[Link]

[Link]
CT010-3-1 Fundamentals of Software Development Python Files I/O
 Opening a File

• Before we read the contents of a file we must

tell Python which file we are going to work with
and what we will be doing with the file
• This is done with the open() function
• open() returns a “file handle” - a variable used
to perform operations on the file
• Kind of like “File -> Open” in a Word Processor

CT010-3-1 Fundamentals of Software Development Python Files I/O

 Using open()

handle = open(filename, mode)

• returns a handle, used to manipulate the file
• filename is a string
• mode is optional and should be 'r' if we are planning
reading the file and 'w' if we are going to write to the
file.

fhand = open('[Link]', 'r')

[Link]
CT010-3-1 Fundamentals of Software Development Python Files I/O
 What is a Handle?

>>> fhand = open('[Link]')

>>> print(fhand)
<open file '[Link]', mode 'r' at 0x1005088b0>

CT010-3-1 Fundamentals of Software Development Python Files I/O

 When Files are Missing

>>> fhand = open('[Link]')

Traceback (most recent call
last): File "<stdin>", line
1, in <module>IOError: [Errno
2] No such file or directory:
'[Link]'

CT010-3-1 Fundamentals of Software Development Python Files I/O

 The newline
Character
• We use a special >>> stuff = 'Hello\nWorld!’
character to indicate >>> stuff
when a line ends >>> 'Hello\nWorld!’
>>> print(stuff)
called the "newline" Hello
• We represent it as \n World!
>>> stuff = 'X\nY’
in strings >>> print(stuff)
• Newline is still one X
Y
character - not two >>> len(stuff)3

CT010-3-1 Fundamentals of Software Development Python Files I/O

 File Processing

• A text file can be thought of as a

sequence of lines

From [Link]@[Link] Sat Jan 5 09:14:16 2008

Return-Path: <postmaster@[Link]>
Date: Sat, 5 Jan 2008 09:12:18 -0500To:
source@[Link]:
[Link]@[Link]: [sakai] svn commit:
r39772 - content/branches/Details:
[Link]

CT010-3-1 Fundamentals of Software Development Python Files I/O

 File Processing

• A text file has newlines at the end of

each line

From [Link]@[Link] Sat Jan 5 09:14:16 2008\n

Return-Path: <postmaster@[Link]>\n
Date: Sat, 5 Jan 2008 09:12:18 -0500\nTo:
source@[Link]\nFrom:
[Link]@[Link]\nSubject: [sakai] svn commit:
r39772 - content/branches/\nDetails:
[Link]

CT010-3-1 Fundamentals of Software Development Python Files I/O

 File Handle as a Sequence
• A file handle open for read
can be treated as a
sequence of strings where
each line in the file is a string
in the sequence
• We can use the for
statement to iterate through
a sequence
• Remember - a sequence is
an ordered set
xfile = open('[Link]')
for cheese in xfile:
print(cheese)

CT010-3-1 Fundamentals of Software Development Python Files I/O

 Counting Lines in a File

• Open a file read-only

• Use a for loop to fhand = open('[Link]')
read each line count = 0
for line in fhand:
• Count the lines and count = count + 1
print out the number print('Line Count:', count)
of lines
Output:
Line Count: 132045

CT010-3-1 Fundamentals of Software Development Python Files I/O

 Searching Through a File
• We can put an if
statement in our
for loop to only
print lines that
meet some criteria
fhand = open('[Link]')
for line in fhand:
if [Link]('From:') :
print(line)

CT010-3-1 Fundamentals of Software Development Python Files I/O

 OOPS!

What are all these blank From: [Link]@[Link]

lines doing here?
From: louis@[Link]

From: zqian@[Link]

From: rjlowe@[Link]
...

CT010-3-1 Fundamentals of Software Development Python Files I/O

 OOPS!

What are all these blank From: [Link]@[Link]\n

lines doing here? \n
From: louis@[Link]\n
\n
From: zqian@[Link]\n
Each line from the file has a \n
newline at the end. From: rjlowe@[Link]\n
\n
...
The print statement adds a
newline to each line.

CT010-3-1 Fundamentals of Software Development Python Files I/O

 Searching Through a File (fixed)

• We can strip the

fhand = open('[Link]')
whitespace from the for line in fhand:
right hand side of the line = [Link]()
string using rstrip() if [Link]('From:'):
print(line)
from the string library
• The newline is
considered "white
space" and is
From: [Link]@[Link]
stripped From: louis@[Link]
From: zqian@[Link]
From: rjlowe@[Link]
....

CT010-3-1 Fundamentals of Software Development Python Files I/O

 Skipping with continue

• We can
convienently
skip a line by fhand = open('[Link]')
for line in fhand:
using the line = [Link]()
if not [Link]('From:'):
continue continue
print(line)
statement

CT010-3-1 Fundamentals of Software Development Python Files I/O

 Using in to select lines

• We can look for

fhand = open('[Link]')
a string for line in fhand:
anywhere in a line = [Link]()
if not '@[Link]' in line :
line as our continue
print(line)
selection criteria

From [Link]@[Link] Sat Jan 5 09:14:16 2008

X-Authentication-Warning: set sender to [Link]@[Link] using –f
From: [Link]@[Link]: [Link]@[Link]
From [Link]@[Link] Fri Jan 4 07:02:32 2008
X-Authentication-Warning: set sender to [Link]@[Link] using -f...

CT010-3-1 Fundamentals of Software Development Python Files I/O

 Prompt for File Name

fname = input('Enter the file name: ')

fhand = open(fname)
count = 0
for line in fhand:
if [Link]('Subject:') :
count = count + 1
print('There were', count, 'subject lines in', fname)

Enter the file name: [Link]

There were 1797 subject lines in [Link]

Enter the file name: [Link]

There were 27 subject lines in [Link]

CT010-3-1 Fundamentals of Software Development Python Files I/O

 Bad File Names
fname = input('Enter the file name: ')
try:
fhand = open(fname)
except:
print 'File cannot be opened:', fname
exit()
count = 0
for line in fhand:
if [Link]('Subject:') :
count = count + 1
print ('There were', count, 'subject lines in', fname)

Enter the file name: [Link]

There were 1797 subject lines in [Link]

Enter the file name: na na boo boo

File cannot be opened: na na boo boo

CT010-3-1 Fundamentals of Software Development Python Files I/O

 Summary

• Secondary storage
• Opening a file - file handle
• File structure - newline character
• Reading a file line-by-line with a for loop
• Searching for lines
• Reading file names
• Dealing with bad files

CT010-3-1 Fundamentals of Software Development Python Files I/O