CSV output file not in a correct format Python

Question

I am writing links into a CSV file but the output seems wrong. It separates each character with a comma. Below is my code. What could be wrong here?

import csv

links = [
    'https://www.pickles.com.au/cars/item/-/details/CP-04-16--Built-12-15--Volkswagen--Caddy--2KN-MY16-TSI160-SWB-Runner--Van--2-Seats--4-Doors/980483287',
    'https://www.pickles.com.au/cars/item/-/details/CP-01-17--Built-09-16--Holden--Captiva--CG-MY16-LTZ-AWD--Wagon--7-Seats--5-Doors/980483305',
    'https://www.pickles.com.au/cars/item/-/details/CP-09-16--Built-06-16--Holden--Colorado--RG-MY16-LS-Crew-Cab--Cab-Chassis-Dual-Cab--5-Seats--4-Doors/302151687',
    'https://www.pickles.com.au/cars/item/-/details/CP-07-16--Volkswagen--Amarok--2H-MY16-TDI420-4x2--Utility-Dual-Cab--5-Seats--4-Doors/502529815',
]

with open('f.csv', 'a+', newline='', encoding='utf-8') as w:
    r = csv.writer(w)
    for link in links:
        r.writerow(link)

Output:

h,t,t,p,s,:,/,/,w,w,w,.,p,i,c,k,l,e,s,.,c,o,m,.,a,u,/,c,a,r,s,/,i,t,e,m,/,-,/,d,e,t,a,i,l,s,/,C,P,-,0,4,-,1,6,-,-,B,u,i,l,t,-,1,2,-,1,5,-,-,V,o,l,k,s,w,a,g,e,n,-,-,C,a,d,d,y,-,-,2,K,N,-,M,Y,1,6,-,T,S,I,1,6,0,-,S,W,B,-,R,u,n,n,e,r,-,-,V,a,n,-,-,2,-,S,e,a,t,s,-,-,4,-,D,o,o,r,s,/,9,8,0,4,8,3,2,8,7
h,t,t,p,s,:,/,/,w,w,w,.,p,i,c,k,l,e,s,.,c,o,m,.,a,u,/,c,a,r,s,/,i,t,e,m,/,-,/,d,e,t,a,i,l,s,/,C,P,-,0,1,-,1,7,-,-,B,u,i,l,t,-,0,9,-,1,6,-,-,H,o,l,d,e,n,-,-,C,a,p,t,i,v,a,-,-,C,G,-,M,Y,1,6,-,L,T,Z,-,A,W,D,-,-,W,a,g,o,n,-,-,7,-,S,e,a,t,s,-,-,5,-,D,o,o,r,s,/,9,8,0,4,8,3,3,0,5
h,t,t,p,s,:,/,/,w,w,w,.,p,i,c,k,l,e,s,.,c,o,m,.,a,u,/,c,a,r,s,/,i,t,e,m,/,-,/,d,e,t,a,i,l,s,/,C,P,-,0,9,-,1,6,-,-,B,u,i,l,t,-,0,6,-,1,6,-,-,H,o,l,d,e,n,-,-,C,o,l,o,r,a,d,o,-,-,R,G,-,M,Y,1,6,-,L,S,-,C,r,e,w,-,C,a,b,-,-,C,a,b,-,C,h,a,s,s,i,s,-,D,u,a,l,-,C,a,b,-,-,5,-,S,e,a,t,s,-,-,4,-,D,o,o,r,s,/,3,0,2,1,5,1,6,8,7
h,t,t,p,s,:,/,/,w,w,w,.,p,i,c,k,l,e,s,.,c,o,m,.,a,u,/,c,a,r,s,/,i,t,e,m,/,-,/,d,e,t,a,i,l,s,/,C,P,-,0,7,-,1,6,-,-,V,o,l,k,s,w,a,g,e,n,-,-,A,m,a,r,o,k,-,-,2,H,-,M,Y,1,6,-,T,D,I,4,2,0,-,4,x,2,-,-,U,t,i,l,i,t,y,-,D,u,a,l,-,C,a,b,-,-,5,-,S,e,a,t,s,-,-,4,-,D,o,o,r,s,/,5,0,2,5,2,9,8,1,5

The output CSV file screenshot.

U13-Forward · Accepted Answer · 2021-09-10 08:00:46Z

3

Solution:

Try replacing:

    r.writerow(link)

With:

    r.writerow([link])

So that your full code would become:

with open('f.csv', 'a+', newline='', encoding='utf-8') as w:
    r = csv.writer(w)
    for link in links:
        r.writerow([link])

Or also:

    r.writerow(link,)

Would work, that would make it a single element tuple which also works.

Explanation:

The reason it gets treated to be multiple columns is because a string is an iterable, that said it would get treated as list(link) which would give a list of all the characters of link separated. So making it a single element list would stop that from happening.

edited Sep 10, 2021 at 8:00

answered Sep 10, 2021 at 7:58

U13-Forward

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Comments

buran · Accepted Answer · 2021-09-10 08:06:07Z

To expand the @U12-Forward answer - instead of iterating over links list and construct one-element list/tuple from each link, you can just use csv.csvwriter.writerows() method

import csv

links = [
    'https://www.pickles.com.au/cars/item/-/details/CP-04-16--Built-12-15--Volkswagen--Caddy--2KN-MY16-TSI160-SWB-Runner--Van--2-Seats--4-Doors/980483287',
    'https://www.pickles.com.au/cars/item/-/details/CP-01-17--Built-09-16--Holden--Captiva--CG-MY16-LTZ-AWD--Wagon--7-Seats--5-Doors/980483305',
    'https://www.pickles.com.au/cars/item/-/details/CP-09-16--Built-06-16--Holden--Colorado--RG-MY16-LS-Crew-Cab--Cab-Chassis-Dual-Cab--5-Seats--4-Doors/302151687',
    'https://www.pickles.com.au/cars/item/-/details/CP-07-16--Volkswagen--Amarok--2H-MY16-TDI420-4x2--Utility-Dual-Cab--5-Seats--4-Doors/502529815',
]

with open('f.csv', 'a+', newline='', encoding='utf-8') as w:
    r = csv.writer(w)
    r.writerows(links)

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