Python Changing the format of a text file to a new format

Question

I am giving a text file with the format below:

3     Bham    Hoover - Vestiva 
123 234 1 456 876 1 876 745 1
0
4     Bham    Vestiva - Greensprings
235 876 1 647 987 1 098 765 1 234 546 1
0

This goes on for several more lines, but I am trying to convert this format to the following:

Event
Disconnect branch from bus 123 to 234 circuit 1
Disconnect branch from bus 456 to 876 circuit 1
Disconnect branch from bus 876 to 745 circuit 1
end
Event 
Disconnect branch from bus 235 to 876 circuit 1
Disconnect branch from bus 647 to 987 circuit 1
Disconnect branch from bus 098 to 765 circuit 1
Disconnect branch from bus 234 to 546 circuit 1
end

Fyi, StackOverflow is not a `plz send me the codes` site. The next time show us what you tried instead of making us write the code for you. — ThiefMaster, Jun 01 '12 at 23:30
I am trying to convert the original text file as shown above to another text file with a different format using a python script — user1431707, Jun 02 '12 at 00:10
It is not at all clear how the output corresponds to the input. — Karl Knechtel, Jun 02 '12 at 02:22

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 11:49

from itertools import islice
with open('file.txt', 'r') as f:
    # iterate over every 3rd line, starting with the 2nd
    for line in islice(f, 1, None, 3):
        parts = line.split()
        print 'Event'
        # iterate over 3-element chunks
        for x in zip(*(iter(parts),) * 3):
            print 'Disconnect branch from bus %s to %s circuit %s' % x
        print 'end'

Output:

Event
Disconnect branch from bus 123 to 234 circuit 1
Disconnect branch from bus 456 to 876 circuit 1
Disconnect branch from bus 876 to 745 circuit 1
end
Event
Disconnect branch from bus 235 to 876 circuit 1
Disconnect branch from bus 647 to 987 circuit 1
Disconnect branch from bus 098 to 765 circuit 1
Disconnect branch from bus 234 to 546 circuit 1
end

Credits to the chunking code go to Iteration over list slices

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 01 '12 at 23:22

with open("data.txt") as inf:
    for head,data,tail in zip(inf,inf,inf):
        print("Event")
        items = iter(data.split())
        for bus1,bus2,cct in zip(items,items,items):
            print("Disconnect branch from bus {} to {} circuit {}".format(bus1,bus2,cct))
        print("end")

results in

Event
Disconnect branch from bus 123 to 234 circuit 1
Disconnect branch from bus 456 to 876 circuit 1
Disconnect branch from bus 876 to 745 circuit 1
end
Event
Disconnect branch from bus 235 to 876 circuit 1
Disconnect branch from bus 647 to 987 circuit 1
Disconnect branch from bus 098 to 765 circuit 1
Disconnect branch from bus 234 to 546 circuit 1
end

score -1 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 01 '12 at 23:17

-1

I'm not certain about your real necessity. But if you want to output your file like you showed, you can insert a delimiter on your text and use the re module to parse then and get the data in ther order that you need !

answered Jun 01 '12 at 23:17

StarkBR

227
8
15

Regexes are not really a good choice for this format since the data line contains an arbitrary number of data triples. There are better way to parse this - see hugh's answer or mine. – ThiefMaster Jun 01 '12 at 23:31
Definitely see ThiefMaster's answer, particularily using a file object as a generator, and skippinng lines with `islice` (I learn something new everyday on here). – yurisich Jun 02 '12 at 01:16

Python Changing the format of a text file to a new format

3 Answers3