python variable assignment from file

Question

I noticed when I execute this command:

comb = open ("out.txt", "r").readlines()[0]
print comb

It will print the first line in the out file and an empty line after it. Why do I have the empty line?

phant0m · Accepted Answer · 2013-01-17 12:22:13Z

4

From the docs:

readline() reads a single line from the file; a newline character (\n) is left at the end of the string, and is only omitted on the last line of the file if the file doesn’t end in a newline.

You can use this instead:

open("out.txt", "r").read().splitlines()[0]

answered Jan 17, 2013 at 12:22

phant0m

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Michał Niklas · Accepted Answer · 2013-01-17 12:22:20Z

2

Because readlines() reads lines with EOL characters, and print() adds EOL character after printing provided text. EOL - end of line, usually \n.

answered Jan 17, 2013 at 12:22

Michał Niklas

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Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams · Accepted Answer · 2013-01-17 12:21:37Z

1

file.readlines() doesn't strip the newline at the end of each line, and print adds one.

answered Jan 17, 2013 at 12:21

Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams

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Volatility · Accepted Answer · 2013-01-17 12:22:34Z

1

The empty line is there because the line is read as having a '\n' character (newline) at the end of each line. Unfortunately Python doesn't automatically remove this.

answered Jan 17, 2013 at 12:22

Volatility

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