The main problem with reading text files in Python is that they are not always well-formed. For example, a text file might not have a header, or it might have one but it might not be properly formatted.
with open('textfile.txt') as f:
for line in f:
print(line)
This code opens the textfile.txt file and reads it line by line. For each line, it prints that line.
Textfiles
Textfiles are files that contain plain text. They can be used for a variety of purposes, such as storing configuration information or log files.
To create a textfile in Python, you can use the open() function. This function takes two arguments: the file name and the mode flag. The mode flag can be one of “r” for read-only, “w” for writeable, or “a” for appendable.
The open() function will return a file object if successful, or an error message if there was an error opening the file. You can then use the read() and write() functions to access the contents of the file.
Textfiles tips
There are a few tips for working with textfiles in Python. First, make sure you have the right module installed:
import os
If you’re working with a textfile on your computer, you can use the os.path module to access its location:
filename = ‘myfile.txt’
path = os.path.dirname(filename)
path = ‘/Users/username/Documents/myfile.txt’
if path not in os.listdir():
print(‘Path not found: %s’ % filename)
else:
# Use the read() function to read the file into a string:
contents = open(path, ‘r’)
# Use the string module to convert the string into an object:
file_obj = StringIO()
# Use the basename() function to get the file’s base name:
If you’re working with a textfile on a remote server, you can use the urllib2 module to access it:
