How do I convert a text file into a list then sort it with Python?

Question

I have a text file with the following lyrics:

'First verse Im off till I'm off the island
i'm riding like autoban on autopilot
before I touch dirt I deal you all with kindness
my natual persona much worse'

I want to convert it to a list, then sort it alphabetically, but what I keep getting is: [[First', 'verse', 'Im', 'off', 'till, "I'm", 'off' , 'the', 'island'] [then it prints the third line], [then the second line], [then the fourth line]]

and then it puts it into a list within a list [[ text, text..., ]]

How do I print it so it prints in order in one list and is sorted in alphabetical order using python code? Here is what I have so far:

fname = raw_input("Enter file name: ")  #prompts user for .txt file
fhand = open(fname)     #reads file
NewList =  []    #creating new list to append to
for line in fhand:    #for the lines in the text file, read them
    line.rstrip()   # strip the white space
    words = line.split()   #split the txt file into string words

    for word in words:      #for every word in txt file
        if words not in NewList:  #if not in the NewList
                NewList.append(words) #then appended words to Newlist 

                NewList.sort()    #sort it alphabetically

print NewList   #then print the sorted list

You probably want to add a tag for language you are using (Python?) — arvi1000
– arvi1000, Commented Mar 27, 2015 at 15:54
do you want to get rid of the repeated words when putting them in the list such as I'm — Daniel
– Daniel, Commented Mar 27, 2015 at 16:08
I think you want NewList.extend(words) instead of NewList.append(words), if I understand you correctly. extend adds all the elements in the argument list to the existing list, where append adds the argument list itself to the existing list... — twalberg
– twalberg, Commented Mar 27, 2015 at 16:34

michaelb · Accepted Answer · 2015-03-27 15:57:06Z

2

It's possible in a single line!

sorted(open('file.txt').readlines())

or, if you want it to be printed like a single file

print "".join(sorted(open('file.txt').readlines()))

answered Mar 27, 2015 at 15:57

michaelb

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3 Comments

Bill Woodger Over a year ago

Where's the Enter file name: bit?

Cilyan Over a year ago

Even if a one-liner is cool, you should use the with statement to close the file properly.

MikeT Over a year ago

Thank you so far for the responses. Well I want to keep it in a list bracket and sort it alphabetically so the output I desire is ['First', 'Im', 'I'm', 'island', 'off'. 'off', 'the', 'till', 'verse',....] and so on for the rest of the lines, all in one bracket--list.

Daniel · Accepted Answer · 2015-03-27 16:19:40Z

0

This creates a set to remove duplicate words and then sort it to a list

fname = raw_input("Enter file name: ")
with open(fname ,"r") as f:
    l = sorted(set([word for line in f for word in line.split()]))

answered Mar 27, 2015 at 16:19

Daniel

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Comments

pradeep · Accepted Answer · 2016-07-26 07:16:17Z

0

Solution in Python 3

fname = input("Enter file name: ")
fh = open(fname)
lst = list()
newlist=[]
for line in fh:
    lst+=line.split()
for item in lst:
    if item not in newlist:
        newlist.append(item)
newlist.sort()
print(newlist)

you're welcome

answered Jul 26, 2016 at 7:16

pradeep

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Manan Cholera · Accepted Answer · 2017-07-31 17:05:06Z

0

#For the second for loop, using continue will skip the already present word 
#in the list and go to the top of the loop for a new iteration.

fname = input("Enter file name: ")
handler = open(fname)
lst = list()
alst = list()

for line1 in handler :
    line1.rstrip()
    lst += line1.split()

for i in lst:
    if i not in alst:
        alst.append(i)
    else:
        continue
alst.sort()
print(alst)

answered Jul 31, 2017 at 17:05

Manan Cholera

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1 Comment

Manan Cholera Over a year ago

@Tyler helpful ?

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