I want to append a newline to my string every time I call file.write(). What's the easiest way to do this in Python?
Use "\n":
file.write("My String\n")
See the Python manual for reference.
You can do this in two ways:
f.write("text to write\n")
or, depending on your Python version (2 or 3):
print >>f, "text to write" # Python 2.x
print("text to write", file=f) # Python 3.x
You can use:
file.write(your_string + '\n')
If you use it extensively (a lot of written lines), you can subclass 'file':
class cfile(file):
#subclass file to have a more convienient use of writeline
def __init__(self, name, mode = 'r'):
self = file.__init__(self, name, mode)
def wl(self, string):
self.writelines(string + '\n')
Now it offers an additional function wl that does what you want:
with cfile('filename.txt', 'w') as fid:
fid.wl('appends newline charachter')
fid.wl('is written on a new line')
Maybe I am missing something like different newline characters (\n, \r, ...) or that the last line is also terminated with a newline, but it works for me.
you could do:
file.write(your_string + '\n')
as suggested by another answer, but why using string concatenation (slow, error-prone) when you can call file.write twice:
file.write(your_string)
file.write("\n")
note that writes are buffered so it amounts to the same thing.
Another solution that writes from a list using fstring
lines = ['hello','world']
with open('filename.txt', "w") as fhandle:
for line in lines:
fhandle.write(f'{line}\n')
And as a function
def write_list(fname, lines):
with open(fname, "w") as fhandle:
for line in lines:
fhandle.write(f'{line}\n')
write_list('filename.txt', ['hello','world'])
file_path = "/path/to/yourfile.txt"
with open(file_path, 'a') as file:
file.write("This will be added to the next line\n")
or
log_file = open('log.txt', 'a')
log_file.write("This will be added to the next line\n")
Unless write to binary files, use print. Below example good for formatting csv files:
def write_row(file_, *columns):
print(*columns, sep='\t', end='\n', file=file_)
Usage:
PHI = 45
with open('file.csv', 'a+') as f:
write_row(f, 'header', 'phi:', PHI, 'serie no. 2')
write_row(f) # additional empty line
write_row(f, data[0], data[1])
You can also use partial as a more pythonic way of creating this kind of wrappers. In the example below, row is print with predefined kwargs.
from functools import partial
with open('file.csv', 'a+') as f:
row = partial(print, sep='\t', end='\n', file=f)
row('header', 'phi:', PHI, 'serie no. 2', end='\n\n')
row(data[0], data[1])
Notes:
print documentation
'{}, {}'.format(1, 'the_second') - https://pyformat.info/, PEP-3101
'\t' - tab character
*columns in function definition - dispatches any number of arguments to list - see question on *args & **kwargs
Just a note, file isn't supported in Python 3 and was removed. You can do the same with the open built-in function.
f = open('test.txt', 'w')
f.write('test\n')
Ok, here is a safe way of doing it.
with open('example.txt', 'w') as f:
for i in range(10):
f.write(str(i+1))
f.write('\n')
This writes 1 to 10 each number on a new line.
I really didn't want to type \n every single time and #matthause's answer didn't seem to work for me, so I created my own class
class File():
def __init__(self, name, mode='w'):
self.f = open(name, mode, buffering=1)
def write(self, string, newline=True):
if newline:
self.f.write(string + '\n')
else:
self.f.write(string)
And here it is implemented
f = File('console.log')
f.write('This is on the first line')
f.write('This is on the second line', newline=False)
f.write('This is still on the second line')
f.write('This is on the third line')
This should show in the log file as
This is on the first line
This is on the second lineThis is still on the second line
This is on the third line
This is the solution that I came up with trying to solve this problem for myself in order to systematically produce \n's as separators. It writes using a list of strings where each string is one line of the file, however it seems that it may work for you as well. (Python 3.+)
#Takes a list of strings and prints it to a file.
def writeFile(file, strList):
line = 0
lines = []
while line < len(strList):
lines.append(cheekyNew(line) + strList[line])
line += 1
file = open(file, "w")
file.writelines(lines)
file.close()
#Returns "\n" if the int entered isn't zero, otherwise "".
def cheekyNew(line):
if line != 0:
return "\n"
return ""
You can decorate method write in specific place where you need this behavior:
#Changed behavior is localized to single place.
with open('test1.txt', 'w') as file:
def decorate_with_new_line(method):
def decorated(text):
method(f'{text}\n')
return decorated
file.write = decorate_with_new_line(file.write)
file.write('This will be on line 1')
file.write('This will be on line 2')
file.write('This will be on line 3')
#Standard behavior is not affected. No class was modified.
with open('test2.txt', 'w') as file:
file.write('This will be on line 1')
file.write('This will be on line 1')
file.write('This will be on line 1')
Using append (a) with open() on a print() statement looks easier for me:
save_url = ".\test.txt"
your_text = "This will be on line 1"
print(your_text, file=open(save_url, "a+"))
another_text = "This will be on line 2"
print(another_text, file=open(save_url, "a+"))
another_text = "This will be on line 3"
print(another_text, file=open(save_url, "a+"))
You could use C-style string formatting:
file.write("%s\n" % "myString")
More about String Formatting.
If write is a callback, you may need a custom writeln.
def writeln(self, string):
self.f.write(string + '\n')
Itself inside a custom opener. See answers and feedback for this question : subclassing file objects (to extend open and close operations) in python 3
(Context Manager)
I faced this when using ftplib to "retrieve lines" from a file that was "record based" (FB80):
with open('somefile.rpt', 'w') as fp:
ftp.retrlines('RETR USER.REPORT', fp.write)
and ended up with one long record with no newlines, this is likely a problem with ftplib, but obscure.
So this became:
with OpenX('somefile.rpt') as fp:
ftp.retrlines('RETR USER.REPORT', fp.writeln)
It does the job. This is a use case a few people will be looking for.
Complete declaration (only the last two lines are mine):
class OpenX:
def __init__(self, filename):
self.f = open(filename, 'w')
def __enter__(self):
return self.f
def __exit__(self, exc_type, exc_value, traceback):
self.f.close()
def writeln(self, string):
self.f.write(string + '\n')
in order to suspport multiple operating systems use:
file.write(f'some strings and/or {variable}. {os.linesep}')
Actually, when you use the multiline syntax, like so:
f.write("""
line1
line2
line2""")
You don't need to add \n!
Usually you would use \n but for whatever reason in Visual Studio Code 2019 Individual it won't work. But you can use this:
# Workaround to \n not working
print("lorem ipsum", file=f) # Python 3.0 onwards only
print >>f, "Text" # Python 2.0 and under
Related
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)
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)
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 written a script on a python "icecast server", and I changed some strings in "/etc/icecast2/icecast.xml" like this:
import os,sys,re
def ices2():
changedir=open(pathh + "icecast3.xml", "w")
data=open("/etc/icecast2/icecast.xml").read()
changedir.write(re.sub("<source-password>hackme</source-password>","<source-password>123</source-password>" % x,data))
changedir.close()
ices2()
def ices1():
changedir1=open(pathh + "icecast2.xml", "w")
data=open(pathh + "icecast3.xml").read()
changedir1.write(re.sub("<relay-password>hackme</relay-password>", "<relay-password>123</relay-password>" % x,data))
changedir1.close()
os.remove(pathh + "icecast3.xml")
ices1()
def ices():
changedir2=open("/etc/icecast2/icecast.xml", "w")
data=open(pathh + "icecast2.xml").read()
changedir2.write(re.sub("<admin-password>hackme</admin-password>","<admin-password>123</admin-password>" % x,data))
changedir2.close()
os.remove(pathh + "icecast2.xml")
ices()
...but it's too long for the script. How can I shorten it? I need to do some changes in one file, open it to make changes and close it without any lost data. I know that it can be done in one function, but how to do it I don't know.
I need three changes in one function like this:
def ices():
changedir=open(pathh + "icecast3.xml", "w")
data=open("/etc/icecast2/icecast.xml").read()
changedir.write(re.sub("<source-password>hackme</source-password>","<source-password>123</source-password>",data))
changedir1.write(re.sub("<relay-password>hackme</relay-password>", "<relay-password>123</relay-password>",data))
changedir2.write(re.sub("<admin-password>hackme</admin-password>","<admin-password>123</admin-password>",data))
changedir.close()
i did it in one function and my script short than upper one. But it's wrong i need do it correctly
changedir=open(pathh + "icecast3.xml", "w")
data=open("/etc/icecast2/icecast.xml").read()
Here I create a new file "pathh + "icecast3.xml" (pathh-/home/user/Downloads), but I need to open file:
"/etc/icecast2/icecast.xml"
...read it and write changes to the same file.
All three functions do the same so you can join them into one. This is not complete solution but I think that you could go on from here on your own:
import os,sys,re
def ices(in_path, out_path, remove=False):
changedir = open(out_path, "w")
data = open(in_path, 'r')
changedir.write(re.sub("<source-password>hackme</source-password>","<source-password>123</source-password>" % x,data.read())) # this is wrong as well but I take it as an example
changedir.close()
data.close()
if remove:
os.remove(in_path)
You can call this function with:
ices(base_path + 'icecast2.xml', base_path + 'icecast3.xml', True)
Hints:
it's better to use os.path.join for creating the full paths (as opposed to string concatenation)
look at with statement and cosider using it for increased readability
EDIT (respecting the clarification in comment):
Sorry I missed the different strings in write. You can do it simply like this:
f = open(filename, 'r')
data = f.read()
f.close()
for tag in ['source', 'relay', 'admin']
sub_str = "<{tag_name}>%s</{tag_name}>".format(tag_name=tag+'-password')
data = re.sub(sub_str % 'hackme', sub_str % '123', data)
f = open(filename+'.new', 'w')
f.write(data)
f.close()
I'm doing it like this now, but I want it to write at the beginning of the file instead.
f = open('out.txt', 'a') # or 'w'?
f.write("string 1")
f.write("string 2")
f.write("string 3")
f.close()
so that the contents of out.txt will be:
string 3
string 2
string 1
and not (like this code does):
string 1
string 2
string 3
Take a look at this question. There are some solutions there.
Though I would probably go that same way Daniel and MAK suggest -- maybe make a lil' class to make things a little more flexible and explicit:
class Prepender:
def __init__(self, fname, mode='w'):
self.__write_queue = []
self.__f = open(fname, mode)
def write(self, s):
self.__write_queue.insert(0, s)
def close(self):
self.__exit__(None, None, None)
def __enter__(self):
return self
def __exit__(self, type, value, traceback):
if self.__write_queue:
self.__f.writelines(self.__write_queue)
self.__f.close()
with Prepender('test_d.out') as f:
f.write('string 1\n')
f.write('string 2\n')
f.write('string 3\n')
You could throw a f.seek(0) between each write (or write a wrapper function that does it for you), but there's no simple built in way of doing this.
EDIT: this doesn't work, even if you put a f.flush() in there it will continually overwrite. You may just have to queue up the writes and reverse the order yourself.
So instead of
f.write("string 1")
f.write("string 2")
f.write("string 3")
Maybe do something like:
writeList = []
writeList.append("string 1\n")
writeList.append("string 2\n")
writeList.append("string 3\n")
writeList.reverse()
f.writelines(writeList)
A variation on kdtrv's answer. This version keeps the existing file contents, and offers a write_lines method that preserves line order.
class Prepender(object):
def __init__(self,
file_path,
):
# Read in the existing file, so we can write it back later
with open(file_path, mode='r') as f:
self.__write_queue = f.readlines()
self.__open_file = open(file_path, mode='w')
def write_line(self, line):
self.__write_queue.insert(0,
"%s\n" % line,
)
def write_lines(self, lines):
lines.reverse()
for line in lines:
self.write_line(line)
def close(self):
self.__exit__(None, None, None)
def __enter__(self):
return self
def __exit__(self, type, value, traceback):
if self.__write_queue:
self.__open_file.writelines(self.__write_queue)
self.__open_file.close()
with Prepender('test_d.out') as f:
# Must write individual lines in reverse order
f.write_line('This will be line 3')
f.write_line('This will be line 2')
f.write_line('This will be line 1')
with Prepender('test_d.out') as f:
# Or, use write_lines instead - that maintains order.
f.write_lines(
['This will be line 1',
'This will be line 2',
'This will be line 3',
]
)
Elaborating on Daniel DiPaolo's answer:
Simply append all the lines that you want to write to a list. Reverse the list and then write its contents into the file.
f=open('output.txt','w')
l=[]
l.append("string 1")
l.append("string 2")
l.append("string 3")
for line in l:
f.write(line)
f.close()
You could also use a deque and add lines at its beginning instead of using a list and reversing it.