Question on the "csv" library

[vsoler]

On Aug 28, 5:43 pm, Steven Rumbalski <googleacco... at rumbalski.com>
wrote:
> On Aug 27, 3:06 pm, vsoler <vicente.so... at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > I am trying to read a csv file generated by excel.
>
> > Although I succeed in reading the file, the format that I get is not
> > suitable for me.
>
> > I've done:
>
> > >>> import csv
> > >>> spamReader = csv.reader(open('C:\\abc.csv', 'r'))
> > >>> print spamReader
>
> > <_csv.reader object at 0x01022E70>
>
> > >>> for row in spamReader:
>
> >         print row
>
> > ['codigo;nombre;cantidad']
> > ['a;qwe;1']
> > ['b;asd;2']
> > ['c;zxc;3']
>
> > My questions are:
>
> > 1- Why using "print spamReader" I cannot see the data?
> >     I expected to see a list of lists, a kind of a matrix, but I get
> > nothing
>
> > 2- Why are the rows in a single string?
> >    I expected a list of fields that, when text, would be delimited by
> > "
> >   To tell the truth, the file generated by excel does not contain the
> > strings delimited by ". Isn't it weird?
>
> > 3- Is there anything I can do to have my data in a list of lists
> > structure? would another kind of data suit better my needs?
>
> > Thank you for your help
>
> > Vicente Soler
>
> the csv module can handle any delimiter.
>
> change this >>> spamReader = csv.reader(open('C:\\abc.csv', 'r'))
> to this >>> spamReader = csv.reader(open('C:\\abc.csv', 'r'),
> delimiter=';')
>
> hope this helps,
> Steven Rumbalski

Thank you very much for all your comments. After reading them I can
conclude that:

1- the CSV format is not standardized; each piece of software uses it
differently

2- the "C" in "CSV" does not mean "comma" for Microsoft Excel; the ";"
comes from my regional Spanish settings

3- Excel does not even put quotes around litteral texts, not even when
the text contains a blank

But, perhaps, there is no standard alternative to CSV !!!