How do I save a csv file to an absolute path using the csv module in Python?

Question

I currently have a program that collects data from .txt files in a folder and then saves that data to a csv file. Due to how I am planning on distributing this program, I need the Python file to live in the folder where these .txt files are located. However, I need the .csv files to be thrown to an absolute file path rather than being created in the same folder as the Python script and .txt documents. Here is what I have currently coded,

def write_to_csv(journal_list):
    #writes a list of journal dictionaries to a csv file.
    import csv

    username = "Christian"  
    csv_name = username + ".csv" 

    myFile = open(csv_name, 'w')  
    with myFile:  
        myFields = ["filename", "username", "project_name", "file_path",
            "date", "start_time", "end_time", "length_of_revit_session",
            "os_version", "os_build", "revit_build", "revit_branch",
            "cpu_name", "cpu_clockspeed", "gpu_name", "ram_max", "ram_avg", "ram_peak",
            "sync_count", "sync_time_total", "sync_time_peak", "sync_time_avg",
            "commands_total", "commands_hotkey_percentage", "commands_unique",
            "commands_dynamo", "commands_escape_key", "commands_most_used"]
        writer = csv.DictWriter(myFile, fieldnames=myFields)    
        writer.writeheader()
        for item in journal_list:
            try:
                writer.writerow(item)
            except:
                print("error writing data to:", item)

I appreciate the help.

@JohnGordon Thank you, you are a genius! Could you add that as an answer so that I can mark this as solved? Thanks a ton — Christian Gentry
– Christian Gentry, Commented May 6, 2018 at 5:51
@chrisz Sorry I had modified my original definition to be simpler just to ask this question. I will re add that variable, I forgot to change it. — Christian Gentry
– Christian Gentry, Commented May 6, 2018 at 5:55

mohamad khajezade · Accepted Answer · 2018-05-06 05:57:23Z

3

USing os.path.join() you can select your desire path for your file to be written. Here is an example:

import os
desier_path = '/home/foo/'
file_path = os.path.join(dest_dir, csv_name)
with open(file_path, 'w'):
...

answered May 6, 2018 at 5:57

mohamad khajezade

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Burhan Khalid · Accepted Answer · 2018-05-06 06:12:14Z

0

Consider asking for the path from the script, and setting a default if not passed in. This would make your script a lot more flexible than having the path coded in it.

You can use the click package which simplifies this a bit.

import os
import click

def write_to_csv(path, journal_list):
    # .. your normal code
    file_path = os.path.join(path, '{}.csv'.format(username))
    # .. rest of your code here

@click.command()
@click.option('--output_dir', default='/home/foo/bar/', help='Default path to save files')
def main(output_dir):
   write_to_csv(output_dir)

if __name__ == '__main__':
   main()

answered May 6, 2018 at 6:12

Burhan Khalid

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