Python Write a list into csv, can't put values into a column

Question

I have this list of countries:

country = ['Togo', 'Nauru', 'Palestine, State of', 'Malawi']

I'm trying to write this into a csv:

with open('temp.csv', 'wt') as output_write:
    csvout = csv.writer(output_write)
    csvout.writerow(country)
    output_write.close()

However the output puts the values into a row rather than a column in csv. Can someone please let me know how to change it?

Thanks in advance!

I followed some of the suggestions below and the output has empty lines between rows:

The code I used:

import csv
country = ['Togo', 'Nauru', 'Palestine, State of', 'Malawi']
with open('temp.csv', 'wt') as output_write:
    csvout = csv.writer(output_write)
    for item in country:
        csvout.writerow((item, ))

Update:

I figured the reason that I'm getting an empty line because each row is because windows interpret a new line differently. The code that finally work for me is:

import csv
country = ['Togo', 'Nauru', 'Palestine, State of', 'Malawi']
with open('temp.csv', 'w', newline = '') as output_write:
    csvout = csv.writer(output_write)
    for item in country:
        csvout.writerow((item, ))

Found a related post regarding the empty row:

python empty row

The name of the function you are calling is writerow. Why do you expect that to write a column? — Shadow
– Shadow, Commented Nov 21, 2017 at 3:36
I agree with @Shadow, the function's name is clearly that it write a row rather than column — You're awesome
– You're awesome, Commented Nov 21, 2017 at 3:40

Foxan Ng · Accepted Answer · 2017-11-21 03:51:49Z

2

You have to iterate through the list if you want to write each item to a separate line:

import csv

country = ['Togo', 'Nauru', 'Palestine, State of', 'Malawi']

with open('temp.csv', 'wt') as output_write:
    csvout = csv.writer(output_write, delimiter=',')
    for c in country:
         csvout.writerow([c])

edited Nov 21, 2017 at 3:51

answered Nov 21, 2017 at 3:43

Foxan Ng

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8 Comments

Shadow Over a year ago

It may or may not cause an error - but the with usage closes the file. Doing it manually is either erroneous or redundant.

vivi11130704 Over a year ago

Thank you. However this produces an empty line between each record. Any way to eliminate the empty lines?

Foxan Ng Over a year ago

@vivi11130704 I don't see empty lines in my case (except the ending one).

vivi11130704 Over a year ago

I update my original post to include a screenshot of what I'm getting. Not sure why I'm getting different results than everyone else. I'm using jupyter notebook.

roganjosh Over a year ago

@Shadow it won't crash, as I found out :) stackoverflow.com/questions/39600786/…

|

SKN · Accepted Answer · 2017-11-21 06:13:14Z

1

Try this:

import csv

countries = ['Togo', 'Nauru', 'Palestine, State of', 'Malawi']

with open('temp.csv', 'w') as output_write:
    csvout = csv.writer(output_write, lineterminator='\n')
    for country in countries:
         csvout.writerow([country])

edited Nov 21, 2017 at 6:13

answered Nov 21, 2017 at 4:05

SKN

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Comments

Arun · Accepted Answer · 2018-07-23 04:31:40Z

1

Try the following:

country = ['Togo', 'Nauru', 'Palestine, State of', 'Malawi']
with open('temp.csv', 'wt') as output_write:
    csvout = csv.writer(output_write, lineterminator='\n')
    for item in country:
        csvout.writerow((item, ))

edited Jul 23, 2018 at 4:31

answered Nov 21, 2017 at 3:37

Arun

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5 Comments

Shadow Over a year ago

That's much better :)

vivi11130704 Over a year ago

Thank you. However this produces an empty line between each record. Any way to eliminate the empty lines?

yash Over a year ago

No it's not generating any empty lines @vivi11130704. I just ran it

Arun Over a year ago

@vivi11130704: I have run the code in Jupyter notebook. The csv generated does not have empty lines. Maybe the problem of your csv reader? Can you open generated CSV file in a plain text editor?

thibautg Over a year ago

To prevent empty lines, use csvout = csv.writer(output_write, lineterminator="\n"). Source

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