question about csv.DictReader

[Norman Clerman]

Hello,

I have the following python script (some of lines are wrapped):

#! /usr/bin/env python

import csv

def dict_test_1():
    """ csv test program  """

    # Open the file Holdings_EXA.csv
    HOLDING_FILE = 'Holdings_EXA.csv'
    try:
        csv_file = open(HOLDING_FILE, 'rt')
    except IOError:
        print('Problem opening {0}\nExiting').format(HOLDING_FILE)
        exit()

    # create a dictionary reader
    try:
        csv_reader = csv.DictReader(csv_file)
    except NameError:
        print('Cannot find file {0} to create a dictionary reader \nExiting').format(HOLDING_FILE)
        exit()

    # Print the keys in each row
    i_row = 1
    for row in csv_reader:
        print ('There are {0} keys in row {1}').format(len(row.keys()), i_row)
        print ('The keys in  row {0} are \n{1}').format(i_row, row.keys())
        i_row += 1
dict_test_1()

Here are the lines in file Holdings_EXA.csv:
Please note that the first field in the first row is "Holdings"

"Holdings","Weighting","Type","Ticker","Style","First Bought","Shares Owned","Shares Change","Sector","Price","Day Change","Day high/low","Volume","52-Wk high/low","Country","3-Month Return","1-Year Return","3-Year Return","5-Year Return","Market Cap Mil","Currency","Morningstar Rating","YTD Return","P/E","Maturity Date","Coupon %","Yield to Maturity"
"Nestle SA","1.91","EQUITY","NESN","Large Core","1999-12-31","3732276","197810","Consumer Defensive","67.65","-","67.75-67.35","1211531","67.75-53.8","Switzerland","10.42","21.25","10.5","8.84","213475.59","CHF","2","12.92","21.69","-","-","-"
"HSBC Holdings PLC","1.75","EQUITY","HSBA","Large Value","1999-12-31","21120203","1711934","Financial Services","733.3","-1.4|-0","738.8-731","7839724","739.9-501.2","United Kingdom","14.51","37.17","3.88","2.77","132694.66","GBP","3","13.93","15.55","-","-","-"
"Novartis AG","1.33","EQUITY","NOVN","Large Core","2003-06-30","2669523","206851","Healthcare","65.95","0.5|0.01","66-65.4","1121549","66-48.29","Switzerland","15.1","36.5","6.16","8.53","158671.66","CHF","4","16.7","17.76","-","-","-"
"Roche Holding AG","1.31","EQUITY","ROG","Large Growth","2003-05-31","817830","59352","Healthcare","214.8","1.4|0.01","215.2-213.1","684173","220.4-148.4","Switzerland","17.45","37.95","7.78","4.09","34000","CHF","3","18.09","19.05","-","-","-"

Finally, here are the results of running the script:


norm at lima:~/python/overlap$ python dict_test_1.py 
There are 27 keys in row 1
The keys in  row 1 are 
['Style', 'Day Change', 'Coupon %', 'Yield to Maturity', 'P/E', 'Type', 'Weighting', 'Price', '3-Month Return', 'Volume', '\xef\xbb\xbf"Holdings"', 'Ticker', 'Shares Change', 'Shares Owned', 'YTD Return', '5-Year Return', 'Market Cap Mil', 'Country', '3-Year Return', 'Day high/low', 'Maturity Date', '1-Year Return', 'Sector', 'Morningstar Rating', 'Currency', '52-Wk high/low', 'First Bought']
There are 27 keys in row 2
The keys in  row 2 are 
['Style', 'Day Change', 'Coupon %', 'Yield to Maturity', 'P/E', 'Type', 'Weighting', 'Price', '3-Month Return', 'Volume', '\xef\xbb\xbf"Holdings"', 'Ticker', 'Shares Change', 'Shares Owned', 'YTD Return', '5-Year Return', 'Market Cap Mil', 'Country', '3-Year Return', 'Day high/low', 'Maturity Date', '1-Year Return', 'Sector', 'Morningstar Rating', 'Currency', '52-Wk high/low', 'First Bought']
There are 27 keys in row 3
The keys in  row 3 are 
['Style', 'Day Change', 'Coupon %', 'Yield to Maturity', 'P/E', 'Type', 'Weighting', 'Price', '3-Month Return', 'Volume', '\xef\xbb\xbf"Holdings"', 'Ticker', 'Shares Change', 'Shares Owned', 'YTD Return', '5-Year Return', 'Market Cap Mil', 'Country', '3-Year Return', 'Day high/low', 'Maturity Date', '1-Year Return', 'Sector', 'Morningstar Rating', 'Currency', '52-Wk high/low', 'First Bought']
There are 27 keys in row 4
The keys in  row 4 are 
['Style', 'Day Change', 'Coupon %', 'Yield to Maturity', 'P/E', 'Type', 'Weighting', 'Price', '3-Month Return', 'Volume', '\xef\xbb\xbf"Holdings"', 'Ticker', 'Shares Change', 'Shares Owned', 'YTD Return', '5-Year Return', 'Market Cap Mil', 'Country', '3-Year Return', 'Day high/low', 'Maturity Date', '1-Year Return', 'Sector', 'Morningstar Rating', 'Currency', '52-Wk high/low', 'First Bought']
norm at lima:~/python/overlap$ 


Can anyone explain the presence of the characters "\xref\xbb\xbf" before the first field contents "Holdings" ?

Thanks,
Norm