Python reading text file not working with numpy/pandas

Question

I want to read a text file into Python but I can't seem to do it. If I use np.loadtxt('file'), I get a URL error (not sure why...). If I use pandas it doesn't seem to parse the columns correctly. It looks like this:

   0.0000000e+00   0.0000000e+00   0.0000000e+00   0.0000000e+00   0.0000000e+00   0.0000000e+00
  -3.6344707e-03  -2.6598413e-02   8.4534688e-02  -8.6057356e-04   3.4833275e-04  -1.7481226e-05
  -7.6545137e-03  -6.9117133e-02   1.0195991e-02  -1.1818548e-03   6.2261736e-04  -1.1414899e-04

I'm sure part of the issue is because the delimiter is 3 spaces but I can't seem to solve this.

Pandas would also be an acceptable alternative...

loadtxt shouldn't a problem with that file - provided you provide the right file name! If there was url error, that means there was some problem accessing the file, by name or something else. NOT a problem with reading. Did you really use 'file' in the loadtxt call? — hpaulj
– hpaulj, Commented Oct 4, 2019 at 20:33
Based on the docs for numpy delimiter : str, optional "The string used to separate values. By default, this is any whitespace." It appears it should not have any issues with your file, granted you are indeed importing the correct file. — Mark
– Mark, Commented Oct 4, 2019 at 21:00

Mark · Accepted Answer · 2019-10-04 21:06:03Z

3

Try this...

import pandas as pd

df = pd.read_csv('file.txt', delim_whitespace=True, header=None)

Where delim_whitespace=True is your delimiter on the whitespace.

Alternatively, you could use

import pandas as pd

df = pd.read_fwf('filet.txt')

where read_fwf stands for 'fixed width formatted lines'. Again, I haven't tested, but I believe it should work.

edited Oct 4, 2019 at 21:06

answered Oct 4, 2019 at 20:07

Mark

1,6982 gold badges15 silver badges28 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

fffrost Over a year ago

That's great, thanks for the suggestions. Just out of curiosity, is there a way to do this easily with numpy?

hpaulj · Accepted Answer · 2019-10-04 20:31:37Z

loadtxt shouldn't have problems with a file like that. Simulating the read with a copy-n-paste of your print:

In [2]: txt = """   0.0000000e+00   0.0000000e+00   0.0000000e+00   0.0000000e+0
   ...: 0   0.0000000e+00   0.0000000e+00 
   ...:   -3.6344707e-03  -2.6598413e-02   8.4534688e-02  -8.6057356e-04   3.483
   ...: 3275e-04  -1.7481226e-05 
   ...:   -7.6545137e-03  -6.9117133e-02   1.0195991e-02  -1.1818548e-03   6.226
   ...: 1736e-04  -1.1414899e-04"""                                             
In [3]: np.loadtxt(txt.splitlines())                                            
Out[3]: 
array([[ 0.0000000e+00,  0.0000000e+00,  0.0000000e+00,  0.0000000e+00,
         0.0000000e+00,  0.0000000e+00],
       [-3.6344707e-03, -2.6598413e-02,  8.4534688e-02, -8.6057356e-04,
         3.4833275e-04, -1.7481226e-05],
       [-7.6545137e-03, -6.9117133e-02,  1.0195991e-02, -1.1818548e-03,
         6.2261736e-04, -1.1414899e-04]])

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Python reading text file not working with numpy/pandas

2 Answers 2

1 Comment

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

1 Comment

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related