Data Analysis using Python--Reading Text File

Question

I have a text file structure like:

X   Y   Home
X   Y   School

X and Y are times and the last column is a location. How can I use python to assess the X and Y element where the 3rd Column is Home?

Note: I have already opened the text file. If you feel I am asking to much, I would appreciate a link to a place that tells how to do something like this. Also, X and Y are not numbers they are strings: ex. 4:30 AM

How do you distinguish between spaces in X and Y (like "4:30 AM") and field separators? — Maxim Razin
– Maxim Razin, Commented Apr 22, 2014 at 1:54
Well, I am going to treat them like 2 columns and combine them after I read them. — user3505931
– user3505931, Commented Apr 22, 2014 at 2:01

starcodex · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-22 01:54:47Z

1

Assuming the contents of the file have been dumped to a variable, one way is to parse every line like so:

for line in file_content:
     columns = line.split()
     x_1 = columns[0]
     x_2 = columns[1]
     home = columns[2]
     ...
     ...

Basically the split distinguishes X, Y, Home and School and places them into a list. So ultimately, columns is a list containing [X, Y, Home] regardless of the type of data.

edited Apr 22, 2014 at 1:54

answered Apr 22, 2014 at 1:46

starcodex

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2 Comments

user3505931 Over a year ago

So the "for line in file_content:" will loop through all the lines in file content (variable containing all of the file contents)?

starcodex Over a year ago

Yes, exactly (assuming formatting does not cause any issues)

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