Write multiple lines not working in Python

Question

I am trying to write multiple lines to the text file.

The code looks like this:

directory = 'C:\SPAN'
with open(os.path.join(directory, 'SPANscript.txt'), 'w') as OPATH:
    OPATH.writelines([r'Load C:\SPAN\RiskFiles\%s\SGX.%s.s.pa2'% (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"),rundate.strftime("%Y%m%d")),
                      r'Load C:\SPAN\RiskFiles\%s\cfe.%s.s.pa2'% (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"),rundate.strftime("%Y%m%d")), 
                      r'Load C:\SPAN\RiskFiles\%s\cme.%s.s.pa2'% (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"),rundate.strftime("%Y%m%d")), 
                      r'Load C:\SPAN\RiskFiles\%s\hkex.%s.s.pa2'% (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"),rundate.strftime("%Y%m%d")),
                      r'Load C:\SPAN\RiskFiles\%s\Jsc%s_1700.pa2'% (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"),rundate.strftime("%Y%m%d")), 
                      r'Load C:\SPAN\Positions\%s\CME_Span_pos_%s.pos'% (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"),rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d")),
                      r'Load C:\SPAN\Positions\%s\HKFE_Span_pos_%s.pos'% (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"),rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d")),
                      r'Load C:\SPAN\Positions\%s\OSE_Span_pos_%s.pos'% (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"),rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d")),
                      r'Load C:\SPAN\Positions\%s\SGX_Span_pos_%s.pos'% (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"),rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d")),
                      r'Load C:\SPAN\Positions\%s\XCME_Span_pos_%s.pos'% (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"),rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d")),
                      r'Load C:\SPAN\Positions\%s\XNYM_Span_pos_%s.pos'% (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"),rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d")),
                      'Calc',
                      r'SaveCalcSummary C:\SPAN\Reports\%s\%s.csv' %(rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"),rundate.strftime("%Y%m%d")),
                      r'Save C:\SPAN\Reports\%s\%s.xml' %(rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"),rundate.strftime("%Y%m%d")),
                      r'LogSave C:\SPAN\Reports\%s\logtest.txt'%rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d")])

The data comes in one line like this, not sure why.

Followed this post: write multiple lines in a file in python Need some guidance on this.

you need to feed it a new line escape '\n' code at the end of each string — DrBwts, Jan 25 '19 at 08:30
I suggest you to use Notepad++, so you can also see 'special characters' as CR and LF as in notepad are not clearly visible. Another thing is to post stuff as text instead of as pictures — DDS, Jan 25 '19 at 08:34

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 25 '19 at 08:35

You can join the list of strings with '\n':

OPATH.write(
    '\n'.join(
        [r'Load C:\SPAN\RiskFiles\%s\SGX.%s.s.pa2' % (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"), rundate.strftime("%Y%m%d")),
         r'Load C:\SPAN\RiskFiles\%s\cfe.%s.s.pa2' % (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"), rundate.strftime("%Y%m%d")),
         r'Load C:\SPAN\RiskFiles\%s\cme.%s.s.pa2' % (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"), rundate.strftime("%Y%m%d")),
         r'Load C:\SPAN\RiskFiles\%s\hkex.%s.s.pa2' % (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"), rundate.strftime("%Y%m%d")),
         r'Load C:\SPAN\RiskFiles\%s\Jsc%s_1700.pa2' % (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"), rundate.strftime("%Y%m%d")),
         r'Load C:\SPAN\Positions\%s\CME_Span_pos_%s.pos' % (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"), rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d")),
         r'Load C:\SPAN\Positions\%s\HKFE_Span_pos_%s.pos' % (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"), rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d")),
         r'Load C:\SPAN\Positions\%s\OSE_Span_pos_%s.pos' % (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"), rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d")),
         r'Load C:\SPAN\Positions\%s\SGX_Span_pos_%s.pos' % (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"), rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d")),
         r'Load C:\SPAN\Positions\%s\XCME_Span_pos_%s.pos' % (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"), rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d")),
         r'Load C:\SPAN\Positions\%s\XNYM_Span_pos_%s.pos' % (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"), rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d")),
         'Calc',
         r'SaveCalcSummary C:\SPAN\Reports\%s\%s.csv' % (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"), rundate.strftime("%Y%m%d")),
         r'Save C:\SPAN\Reports\%s\%s.xml' % (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"), rundate.strftime("%Y%m%d")),
         r'LogSave C:\SPAN\Reports\%s\logtest.txt' % rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d")]
    )
)
OPATH.write('\n') # write the trailing newline

This is far more pythonic than adding a fixed '\n' to every line by hand. — Mailerdaimon, Jan 25 '19 at 08:45

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 25 '19 at 08:30

You need to add newline char to the string.

Ex:

directory = 'C:\SPAN'
with open(os.path.join(directory, 'SPANscript.txt'), 'w') as OPATH:
    OPATH.writelines([r'Load C:\SPAN\RiskFiles\%s\SGX.%s.s.pa2'% (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"),rundate.strftime("%Y%m%d")) + "\n",
                      r'Load C:\SPAN\RiskFiles\%s\cfe.%s.s.pa2'% (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"),rundate.strftime("%Y%m%d")) + "\n", 
                      r'Load C:\SPAN\RiskFiles\%s\cme.%s.s.pa2'% (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"),rundate.strftime("%Y%m%d")) + "\n", 
                      r'Load C:\SPAN\RiskFiles\%s\hkex.%s.s.pa2'% (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"),rundate.strftime("%Y%m%d")) + "\n",
                      r'Load C:\SPAN\RiskFiles\%s\Jsc%s_1700.pa2'% (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"),rundate.strftime("%Y%m%d")) + "\n", 
                      r'Load C:\SPAN\Positions\%s\CME_Span_pos_%s.pos'% (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"),rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d")) + "\n",
                      r'Load C:\SPAN\Positions\%s\HKFE_Span_pos_%s.pos'% (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"),rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d")) + "\n",
                      r'Load C:\SPAN\Positions\%s\OSE_Span_pos_%s.pos'% (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"),rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d")) + "\n",
                      r'Load C:\SPAN\Positions\%s\SGX_Span_pos_%s.pos'% (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"),rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d")) + "\n",
                      r'Load C:\SPAN\Positions\%s\XCME_Span_pos_%s.pos'% (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"),rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d")) + "\n",
                      r'Load C:\SPAN\Positions\%s\XNYM_Span_pos_%s.pos'% (rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"),rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d")) + "\n",
                      'Calc' + "\n",
                      r'SaveCalcSummary C:\SPAN\Reports\%s\%s.csv' %(rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"),rundate.strftime("%Y%m%d")) + "\n",
                      r'Save C:\SPAN\Reports\%s\%s.xml' %(rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"),rundate.strftime("%Y%m%d")) + "\n",
                      r'LogSave C:\SPAN\Reports\%s\logtest.txt'%rundate.strftime("%Y-%m-%d")]) + "\n"

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 25 '19 at 08:40

The mistake is that you didn't tell python to include a new line, so it's not doing it.

directory = 'C:\SPAN'
with open(os.path.join(directory, 'SPANscript.txt'), 'w') as OPATH:
    OPATH.writelines([r'some text here.', '\n', # this creates a new line
                      r'more text here.', '\n\n, # two new lines  
                      r'another line of text.', '\t'
                      # you can also create tab breaks/indents
                      ])

Write multiple lines not working in Python

3 Answers3