Programming and Problem Solving through Python Language
O Level / A Level
Chapter - 7 : File Processing
Concepts of Files
Many realworld problems handle large volume of data and in such situations external
storage devices like the floppy disk and the hard disks are used.
Data is stored in these devices using the concept of files.
A file is a collection of related data stored on a particular area of the disk.
Filenames
Every disk file has a name, and one must use filenames when dealing with disk files.
Filenames are stored as strings, just like other text data.
The rules as to what is acceptable for filenames and what is not, differ from one operating
system to another.
File Opening in Various Modes and Closing of a File
Opening a File
The process of creating a stream linked to a disk file is called opening the file.
When one opens a file, it becomes available for
o reading (meaning that data is input from the file to the program),
o writing (meaning that data from the program is saved in the file), or
o both.
After working with the file, close the file.
Syntax File_Pointer = open( filename , mode)
Example fp=open("test.txt", 'r') open the text file for reading
fp=open("test.txt", 'rt') open the text file for reading
Modes of Opening a File
Character Mode Description
"r" Read Default value. Opens a file for reading, error
if the file does not exist
"a" Append Opens a file for appending, creates the file if
it does not exist
"w" Write Opens a file for writing, creates the file if it
does not exist
"x" Create Creates the specified file, returns an error if
the file exists
"+" Update Open a file for reading and writing . Used
with r+ ,a+
"t" Text Default value. Text mode eg. rt , wt , at, xt
"b" Binary Binary mode (e.g. images) eg. rb , wb, ab, xb
Closing a File
When we are done the operations on the file, we need to close the file.
Closing a file will free up the resources attached with the file.
It is done using the close( ) method available in Python.
Syntax File_Pointer.close( )
Example
fp=open("test.txt", 'w')
fp.close( )
Writing a File
Writing a string or sequence of bytes (for binary files) is done using the write( ) method.
To write into a file in Python, it is need to open it in write(w), append(a) or exclusive
creation(x) mode.
The write(w) mode, overwrite into the file if it already exists.
Syntax File_Pointer.write( string)
Example
fp=open("test.txt", 'w')
fp.write("My File1\n")
fp.write("Line2\n")
fp.write("Line3")
fp.close( )
Reading a File
To read the content from the file use the read(size) method to read data.
If the size parameter is not specified, it reads and returns up to the end of the file.
To read from a file in Python, it is need to open it with read(r) mode.
Syntax File_Pointer.read(size)
Example
fp=open("test.txt", 'r')
#Read the first 4 character
x=fp.read(4)
print(x)
#Read the next 4 character
x=fp.read(4)
print(x)
#Read the remaining character
x=fp.read( )
print(x)
fp.close( )
Output
My F
ile
1
Line2
Line3
Reading a Line from File
We use the readline( ) method to read individual lines of a file.
Syntax File_Pointer.readline( )
Example
fp=open("test.txt", 'r')
#Read the first line
x=fp.readline( )
print(x)
#Read the next line
x=fp.readline( )
print(x)
#Read the next line
x=fp.readline( )
print(x)
fp.close( )
Output
My File1
Line2
Line3
Reading a complete File line by line
We can read a file linebyline using a for loop
Syntax for line in File_Pointer:
x=line
Example
fp=open("test.txt", 'r')
for line in fp:
x=line
print(x)
fp.close( )
Output
My File1
Line2
Line3
