Python Regular Expressions

[Andy Barnes]

Hi,

I am hoping someone here can help me with a problem I'd like to
resolve with Python. I have used it before for some other projects but
have never needed to use Regular Expressions before. It's quite
possible I am following completley the wrong tack for this task (so
any advice appreciated).

I have a source file in csv format that follows certain rules. I
basically want to parse the source file and spit out a second file
built from some rules and the content of the first file.

Source File Format:

Name, Type, Create, Study, Read, Teach, Prerequisite
# column headers

Distil Mana, Lore, n/a, 70, 38, 21
Theurgic Lore, Lore, n/a, 105, 70, 30, Distil Mana
Talismantic Lore, Lore, n/a, 150, 100, 50
Advanced Talismantic Lore, Lore, n/a, 100, 60, 30, Talismantic Lore,
Theurgic Lore

The input file I have has over 700 unique entries. I have tried to
cover the four main exceptions above. Before I detail them - this is
what I would like the above input file, to be output as (dot
diagramming language incase anyone recognises it):

Name, Type, Create, Study, Read, Teach, Prerequisite
# column headers

DistilMana [label="{ Distil Mana |{Type|7}|{70|38|21}}"];
TheurgicLore [label="{ Theurgic Lore |{Lore|n/a}|{105|70|30}}"];
DistilMana -> TheurgicLore;
TalismanticLore [label="{ Talismantic Lore |{Lore|n/a}|{150|100|
50}}"];
AdvanvedTalismanticLore [label="{ Advanced Talismantic Lore |{Lore|n/
a}|{100|60|30}}"];
TalismanticLore -> AdvanvedTalismanticLore;
TheurgicLore -> AdvanvedTalismanticLore;

It's quite a complicated find and replace operation that can be broken
down into some easy stages. The main thing the sample above showed was
that some of the entries won't list any prerequisits - these only need
the descriptor entry creating. Some of them have more than one
prerequisite. A line is needed for each prerequisite listed, linking
it to it's parent.

You can also see that the 'name' needs to have spaces removed and it's
repeated a few times in the process. I Hope it's easy to see what I am
trying to achieve from the above. I'd be very happy to accept
assistance in automating the conversion of my ever expanding csv file,
into the dot format described above.

Andy