How do I search and replace text in a file using Python 3?
Here is my code:
import os
import sys
import fileinput
print ("Text to search for:")
textToSearch = input( "> " )
print ("Text to replace it with:")
textToReplace = input( "> " )
print ("File to perform Search-Replace on:")
fileToSearch = input( "> " )
#fileToSearch = 'D:\dummy1.txt'
tempFile = open( fileToSearch, 'r+' )
for line in fileinput.input( fileToSearch ):
if textToSearch in line :
print('Match Found')
else:
print('Match Not Found!!')
tempFile.write( line.replace( textToSearch, textToReplace ) )
tempFile.close()
input( '\n\n Press Enter to exit...' )
Input file:
hi this is abcd hi this is abcd
This is dummy text file.
This is how search and replace works abcd
When I search and replace 'ram' by 'abcd' in above input file, it works as a charm. But when I do it vice-versa i.e. replacing 'abcd' by 'ram', some junk characters are left at the end.
Replacing 'abcd' by 'ram'
hi this is ram hi this is ram
This is dummy text file.
This is how search and replace works rambcd
As pointed out by michaelb958, you cannot replace in place with data of a different length because this will put the rest of the sections out of place. I disagree with the other posters suggesting you read from one file and write to another. Instead, I would read the file into memory, fix the data up, and then write it out to the same file in a separate step.
# Read in the file
with open('file.txt', 'r') as file :
filedata = file.read()
# Replace the target string
filedata = filedata.replace('abcd', 'ram')
# Write the file out again
with open('file.txt', 'w') as file:
file.write(filedata)
Unless you've got a massive file to work with which is too big to load into memory in one go, or you are concerned about potential data loss if the process is interrupted during the second step in which you write data to the file.
fileinput already supports inplace editing. It redirects stdout to the file in this case:
#!/usr/bin/env python3
import fileinput
with fileinput.FileInput(filename, inplace=True, backup='.bak') as file:
for line in file:
print(line.replace(text_to_search, replacement_text), end='')
As Jack Aidley had posted and J.F. Sebastian pointed out, this code will not work:
# Read in the file
filedata = None
with file = open('file.txt', 'r') :
filedata = file.read()
# Replace the target string
filedata.replace('ram', 'abcd')
# Write the file out again
with file = open('file.txt', 'w') :
file.write(filedata)`
But this code WILL work (I've tested it):
f = open(filein,'r')
filedata = f.read()
f.close()
newdata = filedata.replace("old data","new data")
f = open(fileout,'w')
f.write(newdata)
f.close()
Using this method, filein and fileout can be the same file, because Python 3.3 will overwrite the file upon opening for write.
You can do the replacement like this
f1 = open('file1.txt', 'r')
f2 = open('file2.txt', 'w')
for line in f1:
f2.write(line.replace('old_text', 'new_text'))
f1.close()
f2.close()
You can also use pathlib.
from pathlib2 import Path
path = Path(file_to_search)
text = path.read_text()
text = text.replace(text_to_search, replacement_text)
path.write_text(text)
(pip install python-util)
from pyutil import filereplace
filereplace("somefile.txt","abcd","ram")
Will replace all occurences of "abcd" with "ram".
The function also supports regex by specifying regex=True
from pyutil import filereplace
filereplace("somefile.txt","\\w+","ram",regex=True)
Disclaimer: I'm the author (https://github.com/MisterL2/python-util)
Open the file in read mode. Read the file in string format. Replace the text as intended. Close the file. Again open the file in write mode. Finally, write the replaced text to the same file.
try:
with open("file_name", "r+") as text_file:
texts = text_file.read()
texts = texts.replace("to_replace", "replace_string")
with open(file_name, "w") as text_file:
text_file.write(texts)
except FileNotFoundError as f:
print("Could not find the file you are trying to read.")
Late answer, but this is what I use to find and replace inside a text file:
with open("test.txt") as r:
text = r.read().replace("THIS", "THAT")
with open("test.txt", "w") as w:
w.write(text)
DEMO
With a single with block, you can search and replace your text:
with open('file.txt','r+') as f:
filedata = f.read()
filedata = filedata.replace('abc','xyz')
f.truncate(0)
f.write(filedata)
Your problem stems from reading from and writing to the same file. Rather than opening fileToSearch for writing, open an actual temporary file and then after you're done and have closed tempFile, use os.rename to move the new file over fileToSearch.
My variant, one word at a time on the entire file.
I read it into memory.
def replace_word(infile,old_word,new_word):
if not os.path.isfile(infile):
print ("Error on replace_word, not a regular file: "+infile)
sys.exit(1)
f1=open(infile,'r').read()
f2=open(infile,'w')
m=f1.replace(old_word,new_word)
f2.write(m)
Using re.subn it is possible to have more control on the substitution process, such as word splitted over two lines, case-(in)sensitive match. Further, it returns the amount of matches which can be used to avoid waste of resources if the string is not found.
import re
file = # path to file
# they can be also raw string and regex
textToSearch = r'Ha.*O' # here an example with a regex
textToReplace = 'hallo'
# read and replace
with open(file, 'r') as fd:
# sample case-insensitive find-and-replace
text, counter = re.subn(textToSearch, textToReplace, fd.read(), re.I)
# check if there is at least a match
if counter > 0:
# edit the file
with open(file, 'w') as fd:
fd.write(text)
# summary result
print(f'{counter} occurence of "{textToSearch}" were replaced with "{textToReplace}".')
Some regex:
add the re.I flag, short form of re.IGNORECASE, for a case-insensitive match
for multi-line replacement re.subn(r'\n*'.join(textToSearch), textToReplace, fd.read()), depending on the data also '\n{,1}'. Notice that for this case textToSearch must be a pure string, not a regex!
Besides the answers already mentioned, here is an explanation of why you have some random characters at the end:
You are opening the file in r+ mode, not w mode. The key difference is that w mode clears the contents of the file as soon as you open it, whereas r+ doesn't.
This means that if your file content is "123456789" and you write "www" to it, you get "www456789". It overwrites the characters with the new input, but leaves any remaining input untouched.
You can clear a section of the file contents by using truncate(<startPosition>), but you are probably best off saving the updated file content to a string first, then doing truncate(0) and writing it all at once.
Or you can use my library :D
I got the same issue. The problem is that when you load a .txt in a variable you use it like an array of string while it's an array of character.
swapString = []
with open(filepath) as f:
s = f.read()
for each in s:
swapString.append(str(each).replace('this','that'))
s = swapString
print(s)
I tried this and used readlines instead of read
with open('dummy.txt','r') as file:
list = file.readlines()
print(f'before removal {list}')
for i in list[:]:
list.remove(i)
print(f'After removal {list}')
with open('dummy.txt','w+') as f:
for i in list:
f.write(i)
you can use sed or awk or grep in python (with some restrictions). Here is a very simple example. It changes banana to bananatoothpaste in the file. You can edit and use it. ( I tested it worked...note: if you are testing under windows you should install "sed" command and set the path first)
import os
file="a.txt"
oldtext="Banana"
newtext=" BananaToothpaste"
os.system('sed -i "s/{}/{}/g" {}'.format(oldtext,newtext,file))
#print(f'sed -i "s/{oldtext}/{newtext}/g" {file}')
print('This command was applied: sed -i "s/{}/{}/g" {}'.format(oldtext,newtext,file))
if you want to see results on the file directly apply: "type" for windows/ "cat" for linux:
####FOR WINDOWS:
os.popen("type " + file).read()
####FOR LINUX:
os.popen("cat " + file).read()
I have done this:
#!/usr/bin/env python3
import fileinput
import os
Dir = input ("Source directory: ")
os.chdir(Dir)
Filelist = os.listdir()
print('File list: ',Filelist)
NomeFile = input ("Insert file name: ")
CarOr = input ("Text to search: ")
CarNew = input ("New text: ")
with fileinput.FileInput(NomeFile, inplace=True, backup='.bak') as file:
for line in file:
print(line.replace(CarOr, CarNew), end='')
file.close ()
I modified Jayram Singh's post slightly in order to replace every instance of a '!' character to a number which I wanted to increment with each instance. Thought it might be helpful to someone who wanted to modify a character that occurred more than once per line and wanted to iterate. Hope that helps someone. PS- I'm very new at coding so apologies if my post is inappropriate in any way, but this worked for me.
f1 = open('file1.txt', 'r')
f2 = open('file2.txt', 'w')
n = 1
# if word=='!'replace w/ [n] & increment n; else append same word to
# file2
for line in f1:
for word in line:
if word == '!':
f2.write(word.replace('!', f'[{n}]'))
n += 1
else:
f2.write(word)
f1.close()
f2.close()
def word_replace(filename,old,new):
c=0
with open(filename,'r+',encoding ='utf-8') as f:
a=f.read()
b=a.split()
for i in range(0,len(b)):
if b[i]==old:
c=c+1
old=old.center(len(old)+2)
new=new.center(len(new)+2)
d=a.replace(old,new,c)
f.truncate(0)
f.seek(0)
f.write(d)
print('All words have been replaced!!!')
I have worked this out as an exercise of a course: open file, find and replace string and write to a new file.
class Letter:
def __init__(self):
with open("./Input/Names/invited_names.txt", "r") as file:
# read the list of names
list_names = [line.rstrip() for line in file]
with open("./Input/Letters/starting_letter.docx", "r") as f:
# read letter
file_source = f.read()
for name in list_names:
with open(f"./Output/ReadyToSend/LetterTo{name}.docx", "w") as f:
# replace [name] with name of the list in the file
replace_string = file_source.replace('[name]', name)
# write to a new file
f.write(replace_string)
brief = Letter()
Like so:
def find_and_replace(file, word, replacement):
with open(file, 'r+') as f:
text = f.read()
f.write(text.replace(word, replacement))
def findReplace(find, replace):
import os
src = os.path.join(os.getcwd(), os.pardir)
for path, dirs, files in os.walk(os.path.abspath(src)):
for name in files:
if name.endswith('.py'):
filepath = os.path.join(path, name)
with open(filepath) as f:
s = f.read()
s = s.replace(find, replace)
with open(filepath, "w") as f:
f.write(s)
I have 2 numbers in two similar files. There is a new.txt and original.txt. They both have the same string in them except for a number. The new.txt has a string that says boothNumber="3". The original.txt has a string that says boothNumber="1".
I want to be able to read the new.txt, pick the number 3 out of it and replace the number 1 in original.txt.
Any suggestions? Here is what I am trying.
import re # used to replace string
import sys # some of these are use for other code in my program
def readconfig():
with open("new.text") as f:
with open("original.txt", "w") as f1:
for line in f:
match = re.search(r'(?<=boothNumber=")\d+', line)
for line in f1:
pattern = re.search(r'(?<=boothNumber=")\d+', line)
if re.search(pattern, line):
sys.stdout.write(re.sub(pattern, match, line))
When I run this, my original.txt gets completely cleared of any text.
I did a traceback and I get this:
in readconfig
for line in f1:
io.UnsupportedOperationo: not readable
UPDATE
I tried:
def readconfig(original_txt_path="original.txt",
new_txt_path="new.txt"):
with open(new_txt_path) as f:
for line in f:
if not ('boothNumber=') in line:
continue
booth_number = int(line.replace('boothNumber=', ''))
# do we need check if there are more than one 'boothNumber=...' line?
break
with open(original_txt_path) as f1:
modified_lines = [line.startswith('boothNumber=') if not line
else 'boothNumber={}'.format(booth_number)
for line in f1]
with open(original_txt_path, mode='w') as f1:
f1.writelines(modified_lines)
And I get error:
booth_number = int(line.replace('boothNumber=', ''))
ValueError: invalid literal for int() with base 10: '
(workstationID="1" "1" window=1= area="" extra parts of the line here)\n
the "1" after workstationID="1" is where the boothNumber=" " would normally go. When I open up original.txt, I see that it actually did not change anything.
UPDATE 3
Here is my code in full. Note, the file names are changed but I'm still trying to do the same thing. This is another idea or revision I had that is still not working:
import os
import shutil
import fileinput
import re # used to replace string
import sys # prevents extra lines being inputed in config
# example: sys.stdout.write
def convertconfig(pattern):
source = "template.config"
with fileinput.FileInput(source, inplace=True, backup='.bak') as file:
for line in file:
match = r'(?<=boothNumber=")\d+'
sys.stdout.write(re.sub(match, pattern, line))
def readconfig():
source = "bingo.config"
pattern = r'(?<=boothNumber=")\d+' # !!!!!!!!!! This probably needs fixed
with fileinput.FileInput(source, inplace=True, backup='.bak') as file:
for line in file:
if re.search(pattern, line):
fileinput.close()
convertconfig(pattern)
def copyfrom(servername):
source = r'//' + servername + '/c$/remotedirectory'
dest = r"C:/myprogram"
file = "bingo.config"
try:
shutil.copyfile(os.path.join(source, file), os.path.join(dest, file))
except:
print ("Error")
readconfig()
# begin here
os.system('cls' if os.name == 'nt' else 'clear')
array = []
with open("serverlist.txt", "r") as f:
for servername in f:
copyfrom(servername.strip())
bingo.config is my new file
template.config is my original
It's replacing the number in template.config with the literal string "r'(?<=boothNumber=")\d+'"
So template.config ends up looking like
boothNumber="r'(?<=boothNumber=")\d+'"
instead of
boothNumber="2"
To find boothNumber value we can use next regular expression (checked with regex101)
(?<=\sboothNumber=\")(\d+)(?=\")
Something like this should work
import re
import sys # some of these are use for other code in my program
BOOTH_NUMBER_RE = re.compile('(?<=\sboothNumber=\")(\d+)(?=\")')
search_booth_number = BOOTH_NUMBER_RE.search
replace_booth_number = BOOTH_NUMBER_RE.sub
def readconfig(original_txt_path="original.txt",
new_txt_path="new.txt"):
with open(new_txt_path) as f:
for line in f:
search_res = search_booth_number(line)
if search_res is None:
continue
booth_number = int(search_res.group(0))
# do we need check if there are more than one 'boothNumber=...' line?
break
else:
# no 'boothNumber=...' line was found, so next lines will fail,
# maybe we should raise exception like
# raise Exception('no line starting with "boothNumber" was found')
# or assign some default value
# booth_number = -1
# or just return?
return
with open(original_txt_path) as f:
modified_lines = []
for line in f:
search_res = search_booth_number(line)
if search_res is not None:
line = replace_booth_number(str(booth_number), line)
modified_lines.append(line)
with open(original_txt_path, mode='w') as f:
f.writelines(modified_lines)
Test
# Preparation
with open('new.txt', mode='w') as f:
f.write('some\n')
f.write('<jack Fill workstationID="1" boothNumber="56565" window="17" Code="" area="" section="" location="" touchScreen="False" secureWorkstation="false">')
with open('original.txt', mode='w') as f:
f.write('other\n')
f.write('<jack Fill workstationID="1" boothNumber="23" window="17" Code="" area="" section="" location="" touchScreen="False" secureWorkstation="false">')
# Invocation
readconfig()
# Checking output
with open('original.txt') as f:
for line in f:
# stripping newline character
print(line.rstrip('\n'))
gives
other
<jack Fill workstationID="1" boothNumber="56565" window="17" Code="" area="" section="" location="" touchScreen="False" secureWorkstation="false">
I'm trying to make a code to rewrite a specific line from a .txt file.
I can get to write in the line i want, but i can't erase the previous text on the line.
Here is my code:
(i'm trying a couple of things)
def writeline(file,n_line, text):
f=open(file,'r+')
count=0
for line in f:
count=count+1
if count==n_line :
f.write(line.replace(str(line),text))
#f.write('\r'+text)
You can use this code to make a test file for testing:
with open('writetest.txt','w') as f:
f.write('1 \n2 \n3 \n4 \n5')
writeline('writetest.txt',4,'This is the fourth line')
Edit: For Some reason, if i use 'if count==5:' the code compiles ok (even if it doen't erase the previous text), but if i do 'if count==n_line: ', the file ends up with a lot of garbage.
The Answers work, but i would like to know what are the problems with my code, and why i can't read and write. Thanks!
You are reading from the file and also writing to it. Don't do that. Instead, you should write to a NamedTemporaryFile and then rename it over the original file after you finish writing and close it.
Or if the size of the file is guaranteed to be small, you can use readlines() to read all of it, then close the file, modify the line you want, and write it back out:
def editline(file,n_line,text):
with open(file) as infile:
lines = infile.readlines()
lines[n_line] = text+' \n'
with open(file, 'w') as outfile:
outfile.writelines(lines)
Use temporary file:
import os
import shutil
def writeline(filename, n_line, text):
tmp_filename = filename + ".tmp"
count = 0
with open(tmp_filename, 'wt') as tmp:
with open(filename, 'rt') as src:
for line in src:
count += 1
if count == n_line:
line = line.replace(str(line), text + '\n')
tmp.write(line)
shutil.copy(tmp_filename, filename)
os.remove(tmp_filename)
def create_test(fname):
with open(fname,'w') as f:
f.write('1 \n2 \n3 \n4 \n5')
if __name__ == "__main__":
create_test('writetest.txt')
writeline('writetest.txt', 4, 'This is the fourth line')
Input.txt File
12626232 : Bookmarks
1321121:
126262
Here 126262: can be anything text or digit, so basically will search for last word is : (colon) and delete the entire line
Output.txt File
12626232 : Bookmarks
My Code:
def function_example():
fn = 'input.txt'
f = open(fn)
output = []
for line in f:
if not ":" in line:
output.append(line)
f.close()
f = open(fn, 'w')
f.writelines(output)
f.close()
Problem: When I match with : it remove the entire line, but I just want to check if it is exist in the end of line and if it is end of the line then only remove the entire line.
Any suggestion will be appreciated. Thanks.
I saw as following but not sure how to use it in here
a = "abc here we go:"
print a[:-1]
I believe with this you should be able to achieve what you want.
with open(fname) as f:
lines = f.readlines()
for line in lines:
if not line.strip().endswith(':'):
print line
Here fname is the variable pointing to the file location.
You were almost there with your function. You were checking if : appears anywhere in the line, when you need to check if the line ends with it:
def function_example():
fn = 'input.txt'
f = open(fn)
output = []
for line in f:
if not line.strip().endswith(":"): # This is what you were missing
output.append(line)
f.close()
f = open(fn, 'w')
f.writelines(output)
f.close()
You could have also done if not line.strip()[:-1] == ':':, but endswith() is better suited for your use case.
Here is a compact way to do what you are doing above:
def function_example(infile, outfile, limiter=':'):
''' Filters all lines in :infile: that end in :limiter:
and writes the remaining lines to :outfile: '''
with open(infile) as in, open(outfile,'w') as out:
for line in in:
if not line.strip().endswith(limiter):
out.write(line)
The with statement creates a context and automatically closes files when the block ends.
To search if the last letter is : Do following
if line.strip().endswith(':'):
...Do Something...
You can use a regular expression
import re
#Something end with ':'
regex = re.compile('.(:+)')
new_lines = []
file_name = "path_to_file"
with open(file_name) as _file:
lines = _file.readlines()
new_lines = [line for line in lines if regex.search(line.strip())]
with open(file_name, "w") as _file:
_file.writelines(new_lines)