python csv to tsv: in case record has comma inside

Question

I'm trying to convert csv format to tsv. I just used this to change comma to tab.

tsv = re.sub(',', '\t', csv)

But I can't deal with the string with comma inside, for example:

dept_no,dt,hello
1,20180411,hello its me
2,20180412,here has tab
3,20180412,"here, is, commas"

Is there any way to convert to tsv without affecting comma inside of the string?

Possible duplicate of Read CSV file with comma within fields in Python — bkribbs
– bkribbs, Commented Apr 13, 2018 at 2:44
You should use the csv module to parse the file - it has this and other corner cases covered. — Paulo Scardine
– Paulo Scardine, Commented Apr 13, 2018 at 2:50

Anil_M · Accepted Answer · 2018-04-13 03:14:12Z

6

Try following, csv module should take care of inline commas.

import csv
csv.writer(file('output.tsv', 'w+'), delimiter='\t').writerows(csv.reader(open("input.csv")))

EDIT-1
[Added open method as per discussion]

Insted of using file where we are calling constructor directly, you can use open which is preferred way as per documentation here. Result is same.

csv.writer(open('output.tsv', 'w+'), delimiter='\t').writerows(csv.reader(open("input.csv")))

Result

edited Apr 13, 2018 at 3:14

answered Apr 13, 2018 at 2:58

Anil_M

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3 Comments

era_misa Over a year ago

file('output.tsv', 'w+') or open('output.tsv', 'w+') ?

Anil_M Over a year ago

Either is workable. open calls file internally as per documentation here : docs.python.org/2/library/functions.html#file. However open is preferred way by popularity.

Sophie.K Over a year ago

Thank you so much!

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