Python File Handling: How to Create, Open, Append, Read, Write

In Python, there is no need for importing external library to read and write files. Python provides an inbuilt function for creating, writing, and reading files.

In this file handling in Python tutorial, we will learn:

• How to Open a Text File in Python
• How to Create a Text File in Python
• How to Append to a File in Python
• How to Read Files in Python
• How to Read a File line by line in Python
• File Modes in Python

Syntax of Python open file function

file_object  = open("filename", "mode") 

Here,

• filename: gives name of the file that the file object has opened.
• mode: attribute of a file object tells you which mode a file was opened in.

More details of these modes are explained below

Step 1)

	f= open("gtupapers.txt","w+")

• We declared the variable f to open a file named gtupapers.txt. Open takes 2 arguments, the file that we want to open and a string that represents the kinds of permission or operation we want to do on the file
• Here, we used "w" letter in our argument, which indicates Python write to file and it will create a file if it does not exist in library
• Plus sign indicates both read and write for Python create file operation.

Step 2)

for i in range(10):
     f.write("This is line %d\r\n" % (i+1))

• We have a for loop that runs over a range of 10 numbers.
• Using the write function to enter data into the file.
• The output we want to iterate in the file is "this is line number", which we declare with Python write to text file function and then percent d (displays integer)
• So basically we are putting in the line number that we are writing, then putting it in a carriage return and a new line character

Step 3)

	f.close() 

• This will close the instance of the file gtupapers.txt stored

Here is the result after code execution for Python create file

When you click on your text file in our case "gtupapers.txt" it will look something like this

Step 1)

f=open("gtupapers.txt", "a+")

Once again if you could see a plus sign in the code, it indicates that it will create a new file if it does not exist. But in our case we already have the file, so we are not required to create a new file for Python append to file operation.

Step 2)

for i in range(2):
     f.write("Appended line %d\r\n" % (i+1))

This will write data into the file in append mode.

You can see the output in "gtupapers.txt" file. The output of the code is that earlier file is appended with new data by Python append to file operation.

Step 1) Open the file in Read mode

	f=open("gtupapers.txt", "r")

Step 2) We use the mode function in the code to check that the file is in open mode. If yes, we proceed ahead

	if f.mode == 'r':

Step 3) Use f.read to read file data and store it in variable content for reading files in Python

	contents =f.read()

Step 4) Print contents for Python read text file

Here is the output of the Python read file example:

When you run the code (f1=f.readlines()) to read file line by line in Python, it will separate each line and present the file in a readable format. In our case the line is short and readable, the output will look similar to the read mode. But if there is a complex data file which is not readable, this piece of code could be useful.

Here is the complete code for Python print() to File Example

Python 2 Example

def main():
     f= open("gtupapers.txt","w+")
     #f=open("gtupapers.txt","a+")
     for i in range(10):
         f.write("This is line %d\r\n" % (i+1))
     f.close()   
     #Open the file back and read the contents
     #f=open("gtupapers.txt", "r")
     #   if f.mode == 'r': 
     #     contents =f.read()
     #     print contents
     #or, readlines reads the individual line into a list
     #fl =f.readlines()
     #for x in fl:
     #print x
if __name__== "__main__":
  main()

Python 3 Example

Below is another Python print() to File Example:

def main():
    f= open("gtupapers.txt","w+")
    #f=open("gtupapers.txt","a+")
    for i in range(10):
         f.write("This is line %d\r\n" % (i+1))
    f.close()
    #Open the file back and read the contents
    #f=open("gtupapers.txt", "r")
    #if f.mode == 'r':
    #   contents =f.read()
    #    print (contents)
    #or, readlines reads the individual line into a list
    #fl =f.readlines()
    #for x in fl:
    #print(x)
if __name__== "__main__":
  main()

Summary

• Python allows you to read, write and delete files
• Use the function open("filename","w+") for Python create text file. The + tells the python interpreter for Python open text file with read and write permissions.
• To append data to an existing file or Python print to file operation, use the command open("Filename", "a")
• Use the Python read file function to read the ENTIRE contents of a file
• Use the readlines function to read the content of the file one by one.