AttributeError: 'list' object has no attribute 'split'. Python, splitting list into .csv cells by linebreak

Question

I'm attempting to split a list into separate cells.

However, there is no comma delimiter that separates the list, only a line break.

I've read a few other posts with the same attribute error, and still haven't figured out where I am going wrong.

My relevant code:

from selenium import webdriver

ChromeOptions = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
driver = webdriver.Chrome('/Users/jones/Downloads/chromedriver')

driver.get('https://www.linkedin.com/in/pauljgarner/')

rows = []

name = sel.xpath('normalize-space(//li[@class="inline t-24 t-black t-normal break-words"])').extract_first()
experience = driver.find_elements_by_xpath('//section[@id = "experience-section"]/ul//li')

rows.append([name])
for item in experience:
    rows[0].append(item.text)
    print(item.text)
    print("")

with open(parameters.file, 'w', encoding='utf8') as file:
    writer = csv.writer(file)
    for row in rows:
        writer.writerow(row.split('\n'))

The list is from scraping 'experience':

Freelance Python Developer
Company Name
Depop
Dates Employed
Jun 2015 – Present
Employment Duration
4 yrs 11 mos

The last four lines of my code seem like they should do the trick, but instead I receive the attribute error. Where am I going wrong? Your help is much appreciated

UPDATE: Ideal excel output:

Current excel (with attempted solution):

split() is a method related to str object, and your row variable is of type list, hence you are facing this error. — Arpit Maiya
– Arpit Maiya, Commented Apr 9, 2020 at 5:27

dspencer · Accepted Answer · 2020-04-09 08:46:21Z

1

You get this error because rows is always going to be a list with a single element, which is also a list. split is a method on str instances, not lists. You can see that this is the case because you only ever append to the first element:

for item in experience:
    rows[0].append(item.text)

You may simplify your code by constructing rows as a list of strings:

rows = [name]
for item in experience:
    rows.append(item.text)

Now, your CSV writer will work as you expect.

answered Apr 9, 2020 at 8:46

dspencer

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