python csv, writing headers only once
Question:
So I have a program that creates CSV from .Json.
First I load the json file.
f = open('Data.json')
data = json.load(f)
f.close()
Then I go through it, looking for a specific keyword, if I find that keyword. I’ll write everything related to that in a .csv file.
for item in data:
if "light" in item:
write_light_csv('light.csv', item)
This is my write_light_csv function :
def write_light_csv(filename,dic):
with open (filename,'a') as csvfile:
headers = ['TimeStamp', 'light','Proximity']
writer = csv.DictWriter(csvfile, delimiter=',', lineterminator='n',fieldnames=headers)
writer.writeheader()
writer.writerow({'TimeStamp': dic['ts'], 'light' : dic['light'],'Proximity' : dic['prox']})
I initially had wb+ as the mode, but that cleared everything each time the file was opened for writing. I replaced that with a and now every time it writes, it adds a header. How do I make sure that header is only written once?.
Answers:
You could check if file is already exists and then don’t call writeheader() since you’re opening the file with an append option.
Something like that:
import os.path
file_exists = os.path.isfile(filename)
with open (filename, 'a') as csvfile:
headers = ['TimeStamp', 'light', 'Proximity']
writer = csv.DictWriter(csvfile, delimiter=',', lineterminator='n',fieldnames=headers)
if not file_exists:
writer.writeheader() # file doesn't exist yet, write a header
writer.writerow({'TimeStamp': dic['ts'], 'light': dic['light'], 'Proximity': dic['prox']})
Can you change the structure of your code and export the whole file at once?
def write_light_csv(filename, data):
with open (filename, 'w') as csvfile:
headers = ['TimeStamp', 'light','Proximity']
writer = csv.DictWriter(csvfile, delimiter=',', lineterminator='n',fieldnames=headers)
writer.writeheader()
for item in data:
if "light" in item:
writer.writerow({'TimeStamp': item['ts'], 'light' : item['light'],'Proximity' : item['prox']})
write_light_csv('light.csv', data)
I would use some flag and run a check before writing headers! e.g.
flag=0
def get_data(lst):
for i in lst:#say list of url
global flag
respons = requests.get(i)
respons= respons.content.encode('utf-8')
respons=respons.replace('\','')
print respons
data = json.loads(respons)
fl = codecs.open(r"C:UsersTESTDesktopdata1.txt",'ab',encoding='utf-8')
writer = csv.DictWriter(fl,data.keys())
if flag==0:
writer.writeheader()
writer.writerow(data)
flag+=1
print "You have written % times"%(str(flag))
fl.close()
get_data(urls)
You can check if the file is empty
import csv
import os
headers = ['head1', 'head2']
for row in interator:
with open('file.csv', 'a') as f:
file_is_empty = os.stat('file.csv').st_size == 0
writer = csv.writer(f, lineterminator='n')
if file_is_empty:
writer.writerow(headers)
writer.writerow(row)
Just another way:
with open(file_path, 'a') as file:
w = csv.DictWriter(file, my_dict.keys())
if file.tell() == 0:
w.writeheader()
w.writerow(my_dict)
You can use the csv.Sniffer Class and
with open('my.csv', newline='') as csvfile:
if csv.Sniffer().has_header(csvfile.read(1024))
# skip writing headers
While using Pandas: (for storing Dataframe data to CSV file)
just add this check before setting header property if you are using an index to iterate over API calls to add data in CSV file.
if i > 0:
dataset.to_csv('file_name.csv',index=False, mode='a', header=False)
else:
dataset.to_csv('file_name.csv',index=False, mode='a', header=True)
Here’s another example that only depends on Python’s builtin csv package. This method checks that the header is what’s expected or it throws an error. It also handles the case where the file doesn’t exist or does exist but is empty by writing the header. Hope this helps:
import csv
import os
def append_to_csv(path, fieldnames, rows):
is_write_header = not os.path.exists(path) or _is_empty_file(path)
if not is_write_header:
_assert_field_names_match(path, fieldnames)
_append_to_csv(path, fieldnames, rows, is_write_header)
def _is_empty_file(path):
return os.stat(path).st_size == 0
def _assert_field_names_match(path, fieldnames):
with open(path, 'r') as f:
reader = csv.reader(f)
header = next(reader)
if header != fieldnames:
raise ValueError(f'Incompatible header: expected {fieldnames}, '
f'but existing file has {header}')
def _append_to_csv(path, fieldnames, rows, is_write_header: bool):
with open(path, 'a') as f:
writer = csv.DictWriter(f, fieldnames=fieldnames)
if is_write_header:
writer.writeheader()
writer.writerows(rows)
You can test this with the following code:
file_ = 'countries.csv'
fieldnames_ = ['name', 'area', 'country_code2', 'country_code3']
rows_ = [
{'name': 'Albania', 'area': 28748, 'country_code2': 'AL', 'country_code3': 'ALB'},
{'name': 'Algeria', 'area': 2381741, 'country_code2': 'DZ', 'country_code3': 'DZA'},
{'name': 'American Samoa', 'area': 199, 'country_code2': 'AS', 'country_code3': 'ASM'}
]
append_to_csv(file_, fieldnames_, rows_)
If you run this once you get the following in countries.csv:
name,area,country_code2,country_code3
Albania,28748,AL,ALB
Algeria,2381741,DZ,DZA
American Samoa,199,AS,ASM
And if you run it twice you get the following (note, no second header):
name,area,country_code2,country_code3
Albania,28748,AL,ALB
Algeria,2381741,DZ,DZA
American Samoa,199,AS,ASM
Albania,28748,AL,ALB
Algeria,2381741,DZ,DZA
American Samoa,199,AS,ASM
If you then change the header in countries.csv and run the program again, you’ll get a value error, like this:
ValueError: Incompatible header: expected ['name', 'area', 'country_code2', 'country_code3'], but existing file has ['not', 'right', 'fieldnames']
So I have a program that creates CSV from .Json.
First I load the json file.
f = open('Data.json')
data = json.load(f)
f.close()
Then I go through it, looking for a specific keyword, if I find that keyword. I’ll write everything related to that in a .csv file.
for item in data:
if "light" in item:
write_light_csv('light.csv', item)
This is my write_light_csv function :
def write_light_csv(filename,dic):
with open (filename,'a') as csvfile:
headers = ['TimeStamp', 'light','Proximity']
writer = csv.DictWriter(csvfile, delimiter=',', lineterminator='n',fieldnames=headers)
writer.writeheader()
writer.writerow({'TimeStamp': dic['ts'], 'light' : dic['light'],'Proximity' : dic['prox']})
I initially had wb+ as the mode, but that cleared everything each time the file was opened for writing. I replaced that with a and now every time it writes, it adds a header. How do I make sure that header is only written once?.
You could check if file is already exists and then don’t call writeheader() since you’re opening the file with an append option.
Something like that:
import os.path
file_exists = os.path.isfile(filename)
with open (filename, 'a') as csvfile:
headers = ['TimeStamp', 'light', 'Proximity']
writer = csv.DictWriter(csvfile, delimiter=',', lineterminator='n',fieldnames=headers)
if not file_exists:
writer.writeheader() # file doesn't exist yet, write a header
writer.writerow({'TimeStamp': dic['ts'], 'light': dic['light'], 'Proximity': dic['prox']})
Can you change the structure of your code and export the whole file at once?
def write_light_csv(filename, data):
with open (filename, 'w') as csvfile:
headers = ['TimeStamp', 'light','Proximity']
writer = csv.DictWriter(csvfile, delimiter=',', lineterminator='n',fieldnames=headers)
writer.writeheader()
for item in data:
if "light" in item:
writer.writerow({'TimeStamp': item['ts'], 'light' : item['light'],'Proximity' : item['prox']})
write_light_csv('light.csv', data)
I would use some flag and run a check before writing headers! e.g.
flag=0
def get_data(lst):
for i in lst:#say list of url
global flag
respons = requests.get(i)
respons= respons.content.encode('utf-8')
respons=respons.replace('\','')
print respons
data = json.loads(respons)
fl = codecs.open(r"C:UsersTESTDesktopdata1.txt",'ab',encoding='utf-8')
writer = csv.DictWriter(fl,data.keys())
if flag==0:
writer.writeheader()
writer.writerow(data)
flag+=1
print "You have written % times"%(str(flag))
fl.close()
get_data(urls)
You can check if the file is empty
import csv
import os
headers = ['head1', 'head2']
for row in interator:
with open('file.csv', 'a') as f:
file_is_empty = os.stat('file.csv').st_size == 0
writer = csv.writer(f, lineterminator='n')
if file_is_empty:
writer.writerow(headers)
writer.writerow(row)
Just another way:
with open(file_path, 'a') as file:
w = csv.DictWriter(file, my_dict.keys())
if file.tell() == 0:
w.writeheader()
w.writerow(my_dict)
You can use the csv.Sniffer Class and
with open('my.csv', newline='') as csvfile:
if csv.Sniffer().has_header(csvfile.read(1024))
# skip writing headers
While using Pandas: (for storing Dataframe data to CSV file)
just add this check before setting header property if you are using an index to iterate over API calls to add data in CSV file.
if i > 0:
dataset.to_csv('file_name.csv',index=False, mode='a', header=False)
else:
dataset.to_csv('file_name.csv',index=False, mode='a', header=True)
Here’s another example that only depends on Python’s builtin csv package. This method checks that the header is what’s expected or it throws an error. It also handles the case where the file doesn’t exist or does exist but is empty by writing the header. Hope this helps:
import csv
import os
def append_to_csv(path, fieldnames, rows):
is_write_header = not os.path.exists(path) or _is_empty_file(path)
if not is_write_header:
_assert_field_names_match(path, fieldnames)
_append_to_csv(path, fieldnames, rows, is_write_header)
def _is_empty_file(path):
return os.stat(path).st_size == 0
def _assert_field_names_match(path, fieldnames):
with open(path, 'r') as f:
reader = csv.reader(f)
header = next(reader)
if header != fieldnames:
raise ValueError(f'Incompatible header: expected {fieldnames}, '
f'but existing file has {header}')
def _append_to_csv(path, fieldnames, rows, is_write_header: bool):
with open(path, 'a') as f:
writer = csv.DictWriter(f, fieldnames=fieldnames)
if is_write_header:
writer.writeheader()
writer.writerows(rows)
You can test this with the following code:
file_ = 'countries.csv'
fieldnames_ = ['name', 'area', 'country_code2', 'country_code3']
rows_ = [
{'name': 'Albania', 'area': 28748, 'country_code2': 'AL', 'country_code3': 'ALB'},
{'name': 'Algeria', 'area': 2381741, 'country_code2': 'DZ', 'country_code3': 'DZA'},
{'name': 'American Samoa', 'area': 199, 'country_code2': 'AS', 'country_code3': 'ASM'}
]
append_to_csv(file_, fieldnames_, rows_)
If you run this once you get the following in countries.csv:
name,area,country_code2,country_code3
Albania,28748,AL,ALB
Algeria,2381741,DZ,DZA
American Samoa,199,AS,ASM
And if you run it twice you get the following (note, no second header):
name,area,country_code2,country_code3
Albania,28748,AL,ALB
Algeria,2381741,DZ,DZA
American Samoa,199,AS,ASM
Albania,28748,AL,ALB
Algeria,2381741,DZ,DZA
American Samoa,199,AS,ASM
If you then change the header in countries.csv and run the program again, you’ll get a value error, like this:
ValueError: Incompatible header: expected ['name', 'area', 'country_code2', 'country_code3'], but existing file has ['not', 'right', 'fieldnames']