CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythonpython-3.ximport-from-csv
Darmoc
Darmoc

Reputation: 27

Separating CSV file which contains 3 spaces as delimiter

I'm working on a broken CSV file which uses 3 blanks as a separation. Is there any possible way to delimit it as tabs with python3? Currently my code looks like this:

import csv
with open ("example.csv", "r") as csv_file:
    csv_reader = csv.reader(csv_file, delimiter ="\   ")

    with open("new_example.csv","w") as new_file:
        csv_writer = csv.writer(new_file, delimiter="\t")

        for line in csv_reader:
        csv_writer.writerow(line)

With this I'm getting the error that it's only possible to delimit it with 1-character. Another problem is, that the cells in the csv-file often contain 1 blank (shouldn't be separated).

Upvotes: 1

Views: 2412

Answers (2)

Stop harming Monica
Stop harming Monica

Reputation: 12620

As the error says csv can only separate on one character and it is probably of no use here. Just use .replace to turn sequences of three spaces into tabs.

with (open("example", "r") as csv_file,
      open("new_example.csv", "w") as new_file):
    for line in csv_file:
        new_file.write(line.replace('   ', '\t'))

Upvotes: 0

zipa
zipa

Reputation: 27879

Well if pandas is viable for you, this should sort you out:

import pandas as pd

inFile = pd.read_csv('example.csv', sep='\s+')
inFile.to_csv('new_example.csv', sep='\t')

Upvotes: 3

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