2/25/22, 10:13 AM PY0101EN-4-2-WriteFile

Write and Save Files in Python

Estimated time needed: 25 minutes

Objectives
After completing this lab you will be able to:

Write to files using Python libraries

https://labs.cognitiveclass.ai/tools/jupyterlab/lab/tree/labs/PY0101EN/PY0101EN-4-2-WriteFile.ipynb?lti=true 1/11
2/25/22, 10:13 AM PY0101EN-4-2-WriteFile

Table of Contents

Writing Files (https://write/?

utm_medium=Exinfluencer&utm_source=Exinfluencer&utm_content=000026UJ&utm_term=10006555&utm
SkillsNetwork-Channel-
SkillsNetworkCoursesIBMDeveloperSkillsNetworkPY0101ENSkillsNetwork19487395-2021-01-01)
Appending Files (https://append/?
utm_medium=Exinfluencer&utm_source=Exinfluencer&utm_content=000026UJ&utm_term=10006555&utm
SkillsNetwork-Channel-
SkillsNetworkCoursesIBMDeveloperSkillsNetworkPY0101ENSkillsNetwork19487395-2021-01-01)
Additional File modes (https://add/?
utm_medium=Exinfluencer&utm_source=Exinfluencer&utm_content=000026UJ&utm_term=10006555&utm
SkillsNetwork-Channel-
SkillsNetworkCoursesIBMDeveloperSkillsNetworkPY0101ENSkillsNetwork19487395-2021-01-01)
Copy a File (https://copy/?
utm_medium=Exinfluencer&utm_source=Exinfluencer&utm_content=000026UJ&utm_term=10006555&utm
SkillsNetwork-Channel-
SkillsNetworkCoursesIBMDeveloperSkillsNetworkPY0101ENSkillsNetwork19487395-2021-01-01)

Writing Files

We can open a file object using the method write() to save the text file to a list. To write to a file, the mode
argument must be set to w. Let’s write a file Example2.txt with the line: “This is line A”

In [ ]:

# Write line to file

exmp2 = '/resources/data/Example2.txt'

with open(exmp2, 'w') as writefile:

writefile.write("This is line A")

We can read the file to see if it worked:

In [ ]:

# Read file

with open(exmp2, 'r') as testwritefile:

print(testwritefile.read())

https://labs.cognitiveclass.ai/tools/jupyterlab/lab/tree/labs/PY0101EN/PY0101EN-4-2-WriteFile.ipynb?lti=true 2/11
2/25/22, 10:13 AM PY0101EN-4-2-WriteFile

We can write multiple lines:

In [ ]:

# Write lines to file

with open(exmp2, 'w') as writefile:

writefile.write("This is line A\n")

writefile.write("This is line B\n")

The method .write() works similar to the method .readline() , except instead of reading a new line it
writes a new line. The process is illustrated in the figure. The different colour coding of the grid represents a new
line added to the file after each method call.

You can check the file to see if your results are correct

In [ ]:

# Check whether write to file

with open(exmp2, 'r') as testwritefile:

print(testwritefile.read())

We write a list to a .txt file as follows:

In [ ]:

# Sample list of text

Lines = ["This is line A\n", "This is line B\n", "This is line C\n"]

Lines

In [ ]:

# Write the strings in the list to text file

with open('Example2.txt', 'w') as writefile:

for line in Lines:

print(line)

writefile.write(line)

We can verify the file is written by reading it and printing out the values:

https://labs.cognitiveclass.ai/tools/jupyterlab/lab/tree/labs/PY0101EN/PY0101EN-4-2-WriteFile.ipynb?lti=true 3/11
2/25/22, 10:13 AM PY0101EN-4-2-WriteFile

In [ ]:

# Verify if writing to file is successfully executed

with open('Example2.txt', 'r') as testwritefile:

print(testwritefile.read())

However, note that setting the mode to w overwrites all the existing data in the file.

In [ ]:

with open('Example2.txt', 'w') as writefile:

writefile.write("Overwrite\n")

with open('Example2.txt', 'r') as testwritefile:

print(testwritefile.read())

Appending Files

We can write to files without losing any of the existing data as follows by setting the mode argument to append:
a. you can append a new line as follows:

In [ ]:

# Write a new line to text file

with open('Example2.txt', 'a') as testwritefile:

testwritefile.write("This is line C\n")

testwritefile.write("This is line D\n")

testwritefile.write("This is line E\n")

You can verify the file has changed by running the following cell:

In [ ]:

# Verify if the new line is in the text file

with open('Example2.txt', 'r') as testwritefile:

print(testwritefile.read())

Additional modes

https://labs.cognitiveclass.ai/tools/jupyterlab/lab/tree/labs/PY0101EN/PY0101EN-4-2-WriteFile.ipynb?lti=true 4/11
2/25/22, 10:13 AM PY0101EN-4-2-WriteFile

It's fairly ineffecient to open the file in a or w and then reopening it in r to read any lines. Luckily we can access
the file in the following modes:

r+ : Reading and writing. Cannot truncate the file.

w+ : Writing and reading. Truncates the file.
a+ : Appending and Reading. Creates a new file, if none exists.

You dont have to dwell on the specifics of each mode for this lab.

Let's try out the a+ mode:

In [ ]:

with open('Example2.txt', 'a+') as testwritefile:

testwritefile.write("This is line E\n")

print(testwritefile.read())

There were no errors but read() also did not output anything. This is because of our location in the file.

Most of the file methods we've looked at work in a certain location in the file. .write() writes at a certain
location in the file. .read() reads at a certain location in the file and so on. You can think of this as moving
your pointer around in the notepad to make changes at specific location.

Opening the file in w is akin to opening the .txt file, moving your cursor to the beginning of the text file, writing
new text and deleting everything that follows.
Whereas opening the file in a is similiar to opening the .txt file,
moving your cursor to the very end and then adding the new pieces of text.

It is often very useful to know where the 'cursor' is in a file and be able to control it. The following methods allow
us to do precisely this -

.tell() - returns the current position in bytes

.seek(offset,from) - changes the position by 'offset' bytes with respect to 'from'. From can take the
value of 0,1,2 corresponding to beginning, relative to current position and end

Now lets revisit a+

https://labs.cognitiveclass.ai/tools/jupyterlab/lab/tree/labs/PY0101EN/PY0101EN-4-2-WriteFile.ipynb?lti=true 5/11
2/25/22, 10:13 AM PY0101EN-4-2-WriteFile

In [ ]:

with open('Example2.txt', 'a+') as testwritefile:

print("Initial Location: {}".format(testwritefile.tell()))

data = testwritefile.read()

if (not data): #empty strings return false in python

print('Read nothing')

else:

print(testwritefile.read())

testwritefile.seek(0,0) # move 0 bytes from beginning.

print("\nNew Location : {}".format(testwritefile.tell()))

data = testwritefile.read()

if (not data):

print('Read nothing')

else:

print(data)

print("Location after read: {}".format(testwritefile.tell()) )

Finally, a note on the difference between w+ and r+. Both of these modes allow access to read and write
methods, however, opening a file in w+ overwrites it and deletes all pre-existing data.

To work with a file on existing data, use r+ and a+. While using r+, it can be useful to add a .truncate()
method at the end of your data. This will reduce the file to your data and delete everything that follows.

In the following code block, Run the code as it is first and then run it with the .truncate() .

In [ ]:

with open('Example2.txt', 'r+') as testwritefile:

data = testwritefile.readlines()

testwritefile.seek(0,0) #write at beginning of file

testwritefile.write("Line 1" + "\n")

testwritefile.write("Line 2" + "\n")

testwritefile.write("Line 3" + "\n")

testwritefile.write("finished\n")

#Uncomment the line below

#testwritefile.truncate()

testwritefile.seek(0,0)

print(testwritefile.read())

Copy a File

Let's copy the file Example2.txt to the file Example3.txt:

https://labs.cognitiveclass.ai/tools/jupyterlab/lab/tree/labs/PY0101EN/PY0101EN-4-2-WriteFile.ipynb?lti=true 6/11
2/25/22, 10:13 AM PY0101EN-4-2-WriteFile

In [ ]:

# Copy file to another

with open('Example2.txt','r') as readfile:

with open('Example3.txt','w') as writefile:

for line in readfile:

writefile.write(line)

We can read the file to see if everything works:

In [ ]:

# Verify if the copy is successfully executed

with open('Example3.txt','r') as testwritefile:

print(testwritefile.read())

After reading files, we can also write data into files and save them in different file formats like .txt, .csv, .xls (for
excel files) etc. You will come across these in further examples

Now go to the directory to ensure the .txt file exists and contains the summary data that we wrote.

Exercise

Your local university's Raptors fan club maintains a register of its active members on a .txt document. Every
month they update the file by removing the members who are not active. You have been tasked with automating
this with your Python skills.

Given the file currentMem , Remove each member with a 'no' in their Active column. Keep track of each of the
removed members and append them to the exMem file. Make sure that the format of the original files in
preserved. (Hint: Do this by reading/writing whole lines and ensuring the header remains )

Run the code block below prior to starting the exercise. The skeleton code has been provided for you. Edit only
the cleanFiles function.

https://labs.cognitiveclass.ai/tools/jupyterlab/lab/tree/labs/PY0101EN/PY0101EN-4-2-WriteFile.ipynb?lti=true 7/11
2/25/22, 10:13 AM PY0101EN-4-2-WriteFile

In [ ]:

#Run this prior to starting the exercise

from random import randint as rnd

memReg = 'members.txt'

exReg = 'inactive.txt'

fee =('yes','no')

def genFiles(current,old):

with open(current,'w+') as writefile:

writefile.write('Membership No Date Joined Active \n')

data = "{:^13} {:<11} {:<6}\n"

for rowno in range(20):

date = str(rnd(2015,2020))+ '-' + str(rnd(1,12))+'-'+str(rnd(1,25))

writefile.write(data.format(rnd(10000,99999),date,fee[rnd(0,1)]))

with open(old,'w+') as writefile:

writefile.write('Membership No Date Joined Active \n')

data = "{:^13} {:<11} {:<6}\n"

for rowno in range(3):

date = str(rnd(2015,2020))+ '-' + str(rnd(1,12))+'-'+str(rnd(1,25))

writefile.write(data.format(rnd(10000,99999),date,fee[1]))

genFiles(memReg,exReg)

Now that you've run the prerequisite code cell above, which prepared the files for this exercise, you are ready to
move on to the implementation.

Exercise: Implement the cleanFiles function in the code cell below.

https://labs.cognitiveclass.ai/tools/jupyterlab/lab/tree/labs/PY0101EN/PY0101EN-4-2-WriteFile.ipynb?lti=true 8/11
2/25/22, 10:13 AM PY0101EN-4-2-WriteFile

In [ ]:

'''

The two arguments for this function are the files:

- currentMem: File containing list of current members

- exMem: File containing list of old members

This function should remove all rows from currentMem containing 'no'

in the 'Active' column and appends them to exMem.

'''

def cleanFiles(currentMem, exMem):

# TODO: Open the currentMem file as in r+ mode

#TODO: Open the exMem file in a+ mode

#TODO: Read each member in the currentMem (1 member per row) file into a list.

# Hint: Recall that the first line in the file is the header.

#TODO: iterate through the members and create a new list of the innactive members

# Go to the beginning of the currentMem file

# TODO: Iterate through the members list.

# If a member is inactive, add them to exMem, otherwise write them into currentMem

pass # Remove this line when done implementation

# The code below is to help you view the files.

# Do not modify this code for this exercise.

memReg = 'members.txt'

exReg = 'inactive.txt'

cleanFiles(memReg,exReg)

headers = "Membership No Date Joined Active \n"

with open(memReg,'r') as readFile:

print("Active Members: \n\n")

print(readFile.read())

with open(exReg,'r') as readFile:

print("Inactive Members: \n\n")

print(readFile.read())

The code cell below is to verify your solution. Please do not modify the code and run it to test your
implementation of cleanFiles .

https://labs.cognitiveclass.ai/tools/jupyterlab/lab/tree/labs/PY0101EN/PY0101EN-4-2-WriteFile.ipynb?lti=true 9/11
2/25/22, 10:13 AM PY0101EN-4-2-WriteFile

In [ ]:

def testMsg(passed):

if passed:

return 'Test Passed'

else :

return 'Test Failed'

testWrite = "testWrite.txt"

testAppend = "testAppend.txt"

passed = True

genFiles(testWrite,testAppend)

with open(testWrite,'r') as file:

ogWrite = file.readlines()

with open(testAppend,'r') as file:

ogAppend = file.readlines()

try:

cleanFiles(testWrite,testAppend)

except:

print('Error')

with open(testWrite,'r') as file:

clWrite = file.readlines()

with open(testAppend,'r') as file:

clAppend = file.readlines()

# checking if total no of rows is same, including headers

if (len(ogWrite) + len(ogAppend) != len(clWrite) + len(clAppend)):

print("The number of rows do not add up. Make sure your final files have the same head
er and format.")

passed = False

for line in clWrite:

if 'no' in line:

passed = False

print("Inactive members in file")

break

else:

if line not in ogWrite:

print("Data in file does not match original file")

passed = False

print ("{}".format(testMsg(passed)))

Click here for the solution

https://labs.cognitiveclass.ai/tools/jupyterlab/lab/tree/labs/PY0101EN/PY0101EN-4-2-WriteFile.ipynb?lti=true 10/11
2/25/22, 10:13 AM PY0101EN-4-2-WriteFile

The last exercise!

Congratulations, you have completed this lesson and hands-on lab in Python.

Author
Joseph Santarcangelo (https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-s-50398b136/?
utm_medium=Exinfluencer&utm_source=Exinfluencer&utm_content=000026UJ&utm_term=10006555&utm_id=NA
SkillsNetwork-Channel-SkillsNetworkCoursesIBMDeveloperSkillsNetworkPY0101ENSkillsNetwork19487395-
2021-01-01)

Other Contributors
Mavis Zhou (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jiahui-mavis-zhou-a4537814a?
utm_medium=Exinfluencer&utm_source=Exinfluencer&utm_content=000026UJ&utm_term=10006555&utm_id=NA
SkillsNetwork-Channel-SkillsNetworkCoursesIBMDeveloperSkillsNetworkPY0101ENSkillsNetwork19487395-
2021-01-01)

Change Log
Date (YYYY-MM-DD) Version Changed By Change Description

2022-01-10 2.1 Malika Removed the readme for GitShare

2020-10-16 1.3 Arjun Swani Added exercise

2020-10-16 1.2 Arjun Swani Added section additional file modes

2020-10-16 1.1 Arjun Swani Made append a different section

2020-08-28 0.2 Lavanya Moved lab to course repo in GitLab

© IBM Corporation 2020. All rights reserved.

https://labs.cognitiveclass.ai/tools/jupyterlab/lab/tree/labs/PY0101EN/PY0101EN-4-2-WriteFile.ipynb?lti=true 11/11