python: ascii read

[Sebastian Krause]

Hello,

I tried to read in some large ascii files (200MB-2GB) in Python using 
scipy.io.read_array, but it did not work as I expected. The whole idea 
was to find a fast Python routine to read in arbitrary ascii files, to 
replace Yorick (which I use right now and which is really fast, but not 
as general as Python). The problem with scipy.io.read_array was, that it 
is really slow, returns errors when trying to process large files and it 
also changes (cuts) the files (after scipy.io.read_array processed a 2GB 
file its size was only 64MB).

Can someone give me hint how to use Python to do this job correctly and 
fast? (Maybe with another read-in routine.)

Thanks.

Greetings,
Sebastian