Replace ':' in CSV with ','

Question

Hey guys I wanted to code a little program, and I have this code

inputfile = csv.reader(open('data.csv','r'))
for row in inputfile:

but now I have the problem, that I have commas and : in my CSV and I want to replace the ':' with a comma, because I want to read it in with the row[3] function for example. Or is it possible without replacement? thank you guys!

inputfile = csv.reader(open('data.csv','r'))
for row in inputfile:
    xyc = row[0]
    afs = row[1]
    yxcva = row[2]
    asdfe = row[3]

I tried that already:

data = ""

with `open("input.csv")` as file:
     data = file.read().replace(":", ",")

with `open("data.csv")` as file:
     file.write(data)

Please provide sample input and the expected result. It's not clear if you want to edit the original file, or simply need a way to parse each line into four fields. — chepner, Mar 05 '20 at 13:44
Do you actually want to re-write the file, or just read it properly? Either way, use the `delimiter` paramter of `reader`. — tobias_k, Mar 05 '20 at 13:45
Or do you mean the CSV file uses _both_ `,` and `:` as delimiter? On the same line, or on different lines? Does the file hold string data that might itself contain a `,` or `:`? — tobias_k, Mar 05 '20 at 13:47
Does this answer your question? [Python CSV change separator](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/45256104/python-csv-change-separator) — Askold Ilvento, Mar 05 '20 at 13:50
if it could use both (, and :) as delimiter that would be fine too sample input in data.csv abs,jkel,dheu:kljsk:3234:2324 sample output in another file abs,jkel,dheu,kljsk,3234,2324 — Elias Grabherr, Mar 05 '20 at 13:52

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 05 '20 at 13:51

0

If you use the a for loop like that and you want to split the line, you can do something like

elements = row.split(',')
xyc = elements[0]
abc = elements[1]
...

The parameter in the split command tells the method which char to use to do the split !

answered Mar 05 '20 at 13:51

Kuzniarz

60
1
11

can i also let it split with , and : ? – Elias Grabherr Mar 05 '20 at 13:53
i think in that case you could use `row.replace(':',',').split(',')` – Kuzniarz Mar 05 '20 at 14:15
AttributeError: 'list' object has no attribute 'replace – Elias Grabherr Mar 05 '20 at 14:19
you need to use replace before split, because split creates a list, but replace returns a String. This works for me ```a = "This,is:a:String,or,something" data = a.replace(':', ',').split(',') print(data) ``` – Kuzniarz Mar 05 '20 at 14:25
This is because you use the csv.reader! Try the following: ´´´ input = open('data.csv','r') for row in input: data = row.replace(':', ',').split(',') print(data) ´´´ – Kuzniarz Mar 05 '20 at 14:36

Replace ':' in CSV with ','

1 Answers1