Chapter 5

File Handling
Type A: Short Answer Questions/Conceptual Questions

Question 1

What is the difference between "w" and "a" modes ?

Answer

The differences between "w" and "a" modes are:

"w" mode "a" mode

The "w" mode in file opening is used for The "a" mode in file opening is used for appending data to
writing data to a file. a file.

If the file exists, Python will truncate If the file exists, the data in the file is retained and new
existing data and over-write in the file. data being written will be appended to the end of the file.

Question 2

What is the significance of a file-object ?

Answer

File objects are used to read and write data to a file on disk. The file object is used to obtain
a reference to the file on disk and open it for a number of different tasks. File object is very
important and useful tool as through a file object only, a Python program can work with files
stored on hardware. All the functions that we perform on a data file are performed through
file objects.

Question 3

How is file open() function different from close() function?

Answer
 open() function close() function

The close() function is used to close a file

The open() function is used to open a file.
object.

It creates a file object, which allows to perform When we're done working with a file, we should
various operations on the file, such as reading from always close it using the close() function to free
it, writing to it, or appending data to it. up system resources and prevent data loss.

The syntax is : file_objectname = open("filename",

The syntax is : file.close()
"mode")

Question 4

Write statements to open a binary file C:\Myfiles\Text1.txt in read and write mode by
specifying file path in two different formats.

Answer

The two different formats of specifying file path for opening the file C:\Myfiles\Text1.txt in
read and write mode are:

1. file1 = open("C:\\Myfiles\\Text1.txt", "rb+")

2. file2 = open(r"C:\Myfiles\Text1.txt", "rb+")

Question 5

Which of the following Python modules is imported to store and retrieve objects using the
process of serialization and deserialization ?

1. csv

2. binary

3. math

4. pickle

Answer

pickle

Reason — The pickle module in Python is imported to store and retrieve objects using the
process of serialization and deserialization. It allows us to convert Python objects into a
byte stream for storage or transmission (serialization) and to convert a byte stream into
Python objects (deserialization). This process is commonly referred to as pickling and
unpickling. The pickle module provides functions like dump() and load() for serialization
and deserialization, respectively.

Question 6

Which of the following function is used with the csv module in Python to read the contents
of a csv file into an object ?

1. readrow()

2. readrows()

3. reader()

4. load()

Answer

reader()

Reason — In the CSV module in Python, the reader() function is used to read the contents
of a CSV file into an object. This function returns a reader object which can be used to
iterate over the rows of the CSV file, where each row is represented as a list of strings. This
allows to process the data contained within the CSV file.

Question 7

When a file is opened for output in write mode, what happens when

(i) the mentioned file does not exist

(ii) the mentioned file does exist ?

Answer

When a file is opened for output in write mode ("w" mode) in Python, the behaviour differs
depending on whether the mentioned file already exists or not:

(i) If the mentioned file does not exist — If the file specified in the open() function does not
exist, Python will create a new file with the given name. The file will be opened for writing,
and any data written to it will be written from the beginning of the file.

(ii) If the mentioned file does exist — If the file specified in the open() function already
exists, Python will truncate existing data and over-write in the file. It's essential to be
cautious when opening existing files in write mode, as any existing data will be lost when
the file is opened in "w" mode.

Question 8

What role is played by file modes in file operations ? Describe the various file mode
constants and their meanings.

Answer

File modes play a crucial role in file operations in Python as they determine how the file will
be opened and what operations can be performed on it. Each file mode specifies whether
the file should be opened for reading, writing, appending, or a combination of these
operations. Additionally, file modes can distinguish between text mode and binary mode,
which affects how the file data is handled.

Here are the various text file mode constants in Python and their meanings:

1. "r" — Opens the file for reading only. This is the default mode if no mode is specified.

2. "w" — Opens the file for writing only.

3. "a" — Opens the file for writing, but appends new data to the end of the file.

4. "r+" — Opens the file for both reading and writing.

5. "w+" — Opens the file for writing and reading.

6. "a+" — Opens the file for reading and appending.

Here are the various binary file mode constants in Python and their meanings:

"rb", "wb", "ab", "rb+", "wb+", "ab+" — These modes are similar to their corresponding text
modes ("r", "w", "a", "r+", "w+", "a+"), but they operate in binary mode.

Question 9

What are the advantages of saving data in :

(i) binary form

(ii) text form

(iii) csv files ?

Answer

(i) The advantages of saving data in binary form are as follows:

 1. Efficiency — Binary files store data in a compact binary format, which can lead to
smaller file sizes compared to text-based formats. Binary form is efficient for storing
raw binary data.

2. Speed — Reading and writing binary data can be faster than text-based formats
because there is no need for encoding or decoding operations.

3. Data Integrity — Binary files preserve the exact binary representation of data without
any loss of information.

(ii) The advantages of saving data in text form are as follows:

1. Human Readability — Text-based formats, such as plain text files, are human-
readable, making them easy to inspect and edit using a text editor.

2. Interoperability — Text files can be easily shared and processed across different
platforms and programming languages.

3. Compatibility — Text-based formats are widely supported by various software

applications and systems, making them a versatile choice for data interchange and
communication.

(iii) The advantages of saving data in CSV files are as follows:

1. Tabular Data Representation — CSV (Comma-Separated Values) files provide a

simple and standardized way to represent tabular data, with rows and columns
separated by commas.

2. Simplicity — CSV files are easy to create, parse, and manipulate using spreadsheet
software.

3. Flexibility — CSV files can store a wide range of data types, including numbers,
strings, and dates.

4. Interoperability — CSV files are supported by many software applications,

databases, and programming languages, allowing for seamless integration and data
exchange between different systems.

Question 10

When do you think text files should be preferred over binary files ?

Answer

Text files should be preferred over binary files when dealing with human-readable data that
does not require special encoding or formatting. They are ideal for storing plain text, such
as configuration files, logs, or documents, as they are easily editable and can be viewed
using a simple text editor. Text files are also more portable and platform-independent,
making them suitable for data interchange between different systems.

Question 11

Write a statement in Python to perform the following operations :

(a) To open a text file "BOOK.TXT" in read mode

(b) To open a text file "BOOK.TXT" in write mode

Answer

(a) To open a text file "BOOK.TXT" in read mode : file1 = open("BOOK.TXT", "r")

(b) To open a text file "BOOK.TXT" in write mode : file2 = open("BOOK.TXT", "w")

Question 12

When a file is opened for output in append mode, what happens when

(i) the mentioned file does not exist

(ii) the mentioned file does exist.

Answer

When a file is opened for output in append mode ("a" mode) in Python, the behaviour
differs depending on whether the mentioned file already exists or not:

(i) If the mentioned file does not exist — If the file specified in the open() function does not
exist, Python will create a new file with the given name. The file will be opened for writing,
and any data written to it will be appended to the end of the file.

(ii) If the mentioned file does exist — If the file specified in the open() function already
exists, the data in the file is retained and new data being written will be appended to the
end of the file.

Question 13

How many file objects would you need to create to manage the following situations ?
Explain.

(i) to process three files sequentially

(ii) to merge two sorted files into a third file.

Answer

(i) To process three files sequentially — In this scenario, where we need to process three
files sequentially, we would need a single file object, as we can reuse a single file object by
opening then processing and closing it for each file sequentially.

For example :

f = open("file1.txt", "r")

# Process file 1 using f

f.close()

f = open("file2.txt", "r")

# Process file 2 using f

f.close()

f = open("file3.txt", "r")

# Process file 3 using f

f.close()

Here, we are reusing the f file object three times sequentially. We start by opening file1 in
read mode and store its file handle in file object f. We process file1 and close it. After that,
same file object f is again reused to open file 2 in read mode and process it. Similarly, for
file3 also we reuse the same file object f.

(ii) To merge two sorted files into a third file — In this scenario, where we need to merge two
sorted files into a third file, we would need three file objects, one for each input file and one
for the output file. We would open each input file for reading and the output file for writing.
Then, we would read data from the input files, compare the data, and write the merged data
to the output file. Finally, we would close all three files after the merging operation is
complete.

For example :

f1 = open("file1.txt", "r")

f2 = open("file2.txt", "r")
f3 = open("merged.txt", "w")

# Read line from f1

# Read line from f2

# Process lines

# Write line to f3

f1.close()

f2.close()

f3.close()

Question 14

Is csv file different from a text file ? Why/why not ?

Answer

A CSV (Comma-Separated Values) file is a specific type of text file. The similarities and
differences of CSV files with text files are as follows :

The similarities :

1. Both are text-based formats.

2. Both store data in a human-readable format.

3. Both use plain text characters to represent data.

4. Both are platform independent.

The differences :

1. CSV files have a structured format where data is organized into rows and columns,
separated by delimiters such as commas, tabs, or semicolons. Text files, on the
other hand, can have any structure, and data may not be organized into rows and
columns.

2. CSV files are specifically designed for storing tabular data, such as spreadsheets,
where each row represents a record and each column represents a field. Text files
can contain any type of textual information.

3. CSV files use delimiters (such as commas, tabs, or semicolons) to separate values
within each row, while text files do not use delimiters.
Question 15

Is csv file different from a binary file ? Why/why not ?

Answer

Yes, a CSV (Comma-Separated Values) file is different from a binary file. A CSV (Comma-
Separated Values) file differs from a binary file in several aspects. CSV files are text-based
and structured to store tabular data, with records separated by line breaks and fields by
delimiters like commas. They are human-readable and editable using text editors,
facilitating data interchange between applications and platforms. In contrast, binary files
store data in a non-text, machine-readable format, represented by sequences of bytes.
There is no delimiter for a line and no character translations occur. They accommodate
diverse data types like images, audio, but are not human-readable and require specialized
software for interpretation.

Question 16

Why are csv files popular for data storage ?

Answer

CSV (Comma-Separated Values) files are popular for data storage due to the following
reasons:

1. Easier to create.

2. Preferred export and import format for databases and spreadsheets.

3. Capable of storing large amount of data.

Question 17

How do you change the delimiter of a csv file while writing into it ?

Answer

To change the delimiter of a CSV file while writing into it, we can specify the desired
delimiter when creating the CSV writer object. In Python, we can achieve this using the
csv.writer() function from the csv module. By default, the delimiter is a comma (,), but we
can change it to any other character, such as a tab (\t), semicolon (;), or pipe (|).

import csv

with open('output.csv', 'w', newline='') as csvfile:

csv_writer = csv.writer(csvfile, delimiter=';')

 csv_writer.writerow(['Name', 'Age', 'City'])

csv_writer.writerow(['John', 30, 'New York'])

csv_writer.writerow(['Alice', 25, 'London'])

In this example:

1. We open the CSV file for writing using the open() function with mode 'w'.

2. We create a CSV writer object csv_writer using csv.writer() and specify the desired
delimiter using the delimiter parameter.

3. We then use the writerow() method of the CSV writer object to write rows to the CSV
file, with each row separated by the specified delimiter.

Question 18

When and why should you suppress the EOL translation in csv file handling ?

Answer

We may need to suppress the end-of-line (EOL) translation in CSV file handling in Python in
specific situations where precise control over line endings is necessary. Different operating
systems utilize different conventions for representing line endings in text files. For instance,
Windows uses \r\n (carriage return + line feed), Unix-based systems (Linux, macOS) use \n
(line feed), and classic Mac OS used \r (carriage return). When reading or writing CSV files
intended for compatibility across multiple platforms, suppressing EOL translation ensures
that line endings are preserved exactly as they are, without automatic conversion to the
platform-specific convention. To suppress EOL translation in CSV file handling in Python,
we can use the newline='' parameter when opening the file with the open() function. This
parameter instructs Python to suppress EOL translation and preserve the original line
endings in the file.

Question 19

If you rename a text file's extension as .csv, will it become a csv file ? Why/why not ?

Answer

Renaming a text file's extension to ".csv" does not automatically convert it into a CSV
(Comma-Separated Values) file. To create a CSV file, we need to ensure that the file's
content adheres to :

1. Content Format — A CSV file is structured with data organized into rows and
columns, with each field separated by a delimiter, typically a comma (,).
 2. Delimiter Usage — CSV files require a specific delimiter (usually a comma) to
separate fields.

3. File Encoding — CSV files are often encoded using standard text encodings such as
UTF-8 or ASCII.

Question 20

Differentiate between "w" and "r" file modes used in Python while opening a data file.
Illustrate the difference using suitable examples.

Answer

"w" mode "r" mode

It is also called as write mode. It is also called as read mode.

The "w" mode is used to open a file for writing. The "r" mode is used to open a file for reading.

If the file does not exist, it raises a

It creates a new file if the file does not exist.
FileNotFoundError.

If the file exists, Python will truncate existing If the file exists, Python will open it for reading and
data and over-write in the file. allow to access its contents.

Example:
Example:
with open("example.txt", "r") as file:
with open("example.txt", "w") as file:
data = file.read()
file.write("Hello, world!\n")
print(data)

Question 21

Differentiate between the following :

(i) f = open('diary.txt', 'r')

(ii) f = open('diary.txt', 'w')

Answer

(i) f = open('diary.txt', 'r') — This line opens the file diary.txt in read mode ('r'). If the file does
not exist, Python will raise an error. If the file exists, the data will not be erased.
(ii) f = open('diary.txt', 'w') — This line opens the file diary.txt in write mode ('w'). If the file
does not exist, Python creates new file with the specified name. If the file exists, Python will
truncate existing data and over-write in the file.

Type B: Application Based Questions

Question 1

How are following codes different from one another ?

(a)

my_file = open('poem.txt', 'r')

my_file.read()

(b)

my_file = open('poem.txt', 'r')

my_file.read(100)

Answer

The provided code snippets (a) and (b) are similar in that they both open the file poem.txt in
read mode ('r'). However, they differ in how they read the contents of the file:

(a) my_file.read(): This code reads the entire content of the file poem.txt into a single string.
It reads until the end of the file (EOF) is reached.

(b) my_file.read(100): This code reads the first 100 characters from the file poem.txt into a
string. It reads up to the 100 number of characters or until EOF is reached, whichever
comes first.

Question 2

If the file 'poemBTH.txt' contains the following poem (by Paramhans Yoganand) :

God made the Earth;

Man made confining countries

And their fancy-frozen boundaries.

But with unfound boundLess Love

I behold the borderLand of my India

Expanding into the World.

HaiL, mother of religions, Lotus, scenic beauty, and sages!

Then what outputs will be produced by both the code fragments given in question1.

Answer

(a)

my_file = open('poemBTH.txt', 'r')

my_file.read()

Output

God made the Earth;

Man made confining countries

And their fancy-frozen boundaries.

But with unfound boundLess Love

I behold the borderLand of my India

Expanding into the World.

HaiL, mother of religions, Lotus, scenic beauty, and sages!

Explanation

This code reads the entire content of the file poemBTH.txt into a single string. Since no
specific number of characters is specified, it will read until the end of the file (EOF) is
reached.

(b)

my_file = open('poemBTH.txt', 'r')

my_file.read(100)

Output

God made the Earth;

Man made confining countries

And their fancy-frozen boundaries.

But with unfound

Explanation
This code reads the first 100 characters from the file "poemBTH.txt" into a string. It is
important to note that the newline at the end of each line will also be counted as a
character.

Question 3

Consider the file poemBTH.txt given above (in previous question). What output will be
produced by following code fragment ?

obj1 = open("poemBTH.txt", "r")

s1 = obj1.readline()

s2.readline(10)

s3 = obj1.read(15)

print(s3)

print(obj1.readline())

obj1.close()

Answer

The code will result in an error because at line 3 there is a syntax error. The correct syntax
is s2 = obj1.readline().

Explanation

The corrected code will be:

obj1 = open("poemBTH.txt", "r")

s1 = obj1.readline()

s2 = obj1.readline()

s3 = obj1.read(15)

print(s3)

print(obj1.readline())

obj1.close()

Output

And their fancy

-frozen boundaries.

1. obj1 = open("poemBTH.txt", "r") — This line opens the file named poemBTH.txt in
read mode ("r") and assigns the file object to the variable obj1.

2. s1 = obj1.readline() — This line reads the first line from the file obj1 and assigns it to
the variable s1.

3. s2 = obj1.readline() — This line reads the next line from the file obj1, starting from
the position where the file pointer currently is, which is the beginning of the second
line (from the previous readline() call). Then assigns it to the variable s2.

4. s3 = obj1.read(15) — This line reads the next 15 characters from the file obj1,
starting from the position where the file pointer currently is, which is the beginning
of third line (from the previous readline() call) and assigns them to the variable s3.

5. print(s3) — This line prints the contents of s3.

6. print(obj1.readline()) — This line attempts to read the next line from the file obj1 and
print it. However, since the file pointer is already ahead by 15 characters (from the
previous read(15) call), this line will start reading from where the file pointer is
currently positioned i.e., from "-" up to end of line.

7. obj1.close() — This line closes the file obj1.

Question 4

Write code to open file contacts.txt with shown information and print it in following form :

Name: <name> Phone: <phone number>

Answer

Let the file "contacts.txt" include following sample text:

Kumar 8574075846

Priya 5873472904

Neetu 7897656378

with open("contacts.txt", "r") as file:

for line in file:

name, phone = line.strip().split()

print("Name: " + name + " \t Phone: " + phone)

Output

Name: Kumar Phone: 8574075846

Name: Priya Phone: 5873472904

Name: Neetu Phone: 7897656378

Question 5

Consider the file "poemBTH.txt" and predict the outputs of following code fragments if the
file has been opened in filepointer file1 with the following code :

file1 = open("E:\\mydata\\poemBTH.txt", "r+")

(a)

print("A. Output 1")

print(file1.read())

print()

(b)

print("B. Output 2")

print(file1.readline())

print()

(c)

print("C. Output 3")

print(file1.read(9))

print()

(d)

print("D. Output 4")

print(file1.readline(9))

(e)

print("E. Output of Readlines function is")

print(file1.readlines())
print()

NOTE. Consider the code fragments in succession, i.e., code (b) follows code (a), which
means changes by code (a) remain intact when code (b) is executing. Similarly, code (c)
follows (a) and (b), and so on.

Answer

As mentioned in the note, the output of above code fragments together in succession is as
follows:

Output

A. Output 1

God made the Earth;

Man made confining countries

And their fancy-frozen boundaries.

But with unfound boundLess Love

I behold the borderLand of my India

Expanding into the World.

HaiL, mother of religions, Lotus, scenic beauty, and sages!

B. Output 2

C. Output 3

D. Output 4

E. Output of Readlines function is

[]
Explanation

After executing file1.read() in code snippet (a), the file pointer will be moved to the end of
the file (EOF) because all the content has been read. Therefore, subsequent read
operations, such as file1.readline(), file1.read(9), and file1.readlines(), will start from the
end of the file (EOF) and will not read any further content, resulting in empty outputs for
those print statements.

Question 6

What is the following code doing ?

file = open("contacts.csv", "a")

name = input("Please enter name.")

phno = input("Please enter phone number.")

file.write(name + "," + phno + "\n")

Answer

This code opens a CSV file named contacts.csv in append mode, as indicated by the mode
"a". This mode allows new data to be added to the end of the file without overwriting
existing content. It then prompts the user to enter a name and a phone number through the
console using the input() function. After receiving input, it concatenates the name and
phno separated by a comma, and appends a newline character '\n' to signify the end of the
line. Finally, it writes this concatenated string to the CSV file using the write() method of the
file object. This operation effectively adds a new record to the CSV file with the provided
name and phone number.

Question 7

Consider the file "contacts.csv" created in above Q. and figure out what the following code
is trying to do?

name = input("Enter name :")

file = open("contacts.csv", "r")

for line in file:

if name in line:

print(line)

Answer
The code asks the user to enter a name. It then searches for the name in "contacts.csv" file.
If found, the name and phone number are printed as the output.

Explanation

1. name = input("Enter name :") — This line prompts the user to enter a name through
the console, and the entered name is stored in the variable name.

2. file = open("contacts.csv", "r") — This line opens the file contacts.csv in read mode
and assigns the file object to the variable file.

3. for line in file: — This line initiates a for loop that iterates over each line in the file
handle (file represents the opened file object), which enables interaction with the
file's content. During each iteration, the current line is stored in the variable line.

4. if name in line: — Within the loop, it checks if the inputted name exists in the current
line using the in operator.

5. print(line) — If the name is found in the current line, this line prints the entire line to
the console.

Question 8

Consider the file poemBTH.txt and predict the output of following code fragment. What
exactly is the following code fragment doing ?

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

nl = 0

for line in f:

nl += 1

print(nl)

Answer

The code is calculating the number of lines present in the file poemBTH.txt.

Output

Explanation

1. f = open("poemBTH.txt", "r") — This line opens a file named poemBTH.txt in read

mode ("r") and assigns the file object to the variable f.
 2. nl = 0 — This line initializes a variable nl to 0.

3. for line in f: — By iterating over the file handle using a for loop as shown, we can read
the contents of the file line by line.

4. nl += 1 — Within the for loop, this statement increments the value of nl by 1 for each
iteration, effectively counting the number of lines in the file.

5. print(nl) — After the for loop completes, this statement prints the value of nl, which
represents the total number of lines in the file.

Question 9

Write a method in Python to read the content from a text file diary.txt line by line and display
the same on screen.

Answer

def diary_content(f):

myfile = open(f, "r")

str = " "

while str:

str = myfile.readline()

print(str, end = '')

myfile.close()

diary_content("diary.txt")

Question 10

Write a method in Python to write multiple line of text contents into a text file mylife.txt.line.

Answer

def write_to_file(file_path):

lines_to_write = ["The sun sets over the horizon.", "Birds chirp in the morning.", "Raindrops
patter on the roof.", "Leaves rustle in the breeze."]

with open(file_path, "w") as file:

 for line in lines_to_write:

file.write(line + '\n')

write_to_file("mylife.txt.line")

Question 11

What will be the output of the following code ?

import pickle

ID = {1:"Ziva", 2:"53050", 3:"IT", 4:"38", 5:"Dunzo"}

fin = open("Emp.pkl","wb")

pickle.dump(ID, fin)

fin.close()

fout = open("Emp.pkl",'rb')

ID = pickle.load(fout)

print(ID[5])

Answer

Output

Dunzo

Explanation

1. import pickle — Imports the pickle module, which is used for serializing and
deserializing Python objects.

2. ID = {1: "Ziva", 2: "53050", 3: "IT", 4: "38", 5: "Dunzo"} — Defines a dictionary

named ID with keys and values.

3. fin = open("Emp.pkl", "wb") — Opens a file named Emp.pkl in binary write mode
("wb").

4. pickle.dump(ID, fin) — Serializes the ID dictionary and writes it to the file

handle fin using the pickle.dump() function.

5. fin.close() — Closes the file fin after writing the pickled data.
 6. fout = open("Emp.pkl", 'rb') — Opens the file Emp.pkl again, this time in binary read
mode ("rb"), to read the pickled data.

7. ID = pickle.load(fout) — Deserializes the data from the file fout using

the pickle.load() function and assigns it to the variable ID. This effectively restores
the original dictionary from the pickled data.

8. print(ID[5]) — Prints the value associated with key 5 in the restored ID dictionary,
which is "Dunzo".

Question 12

What will be the output of the following code ?

import pickle

List1 = ['Roza', {'a': 23, 'b': True}, (1, 2, 3), [['dogs', 'cats'], None]]

List2 = ['Rita', {'x': 45, 'y': False}, (9, 5, 3), [['insects', 'bees'], None]]

with open('data.pkl', 'wb') as f:

f.write(List1)

with open('data.pkl', 'wb') as f:

f.write(List2)

with open('data.pkl', 'rb') as f:

List1 = pickle.load(f)

print(List1)

Answer

The code raises an error because write() function does not work in binary file. To write an
object on to a binary file dump() function of pickle module is used.

Question 13

What is the output of the following considering the file data.csv given below.

File data.csv contains:

Identifier;First name;Last name

901242;Riya;Verma
207074;Laura;Grey

408129;Ali;Baig

934600;Manit;Kaur

507916;Jiva;Jain

import csv

with open('C:\data.csv', 'r+') as f:

data = csv.reader(f)

for row in data:

if 'the' in row :

print(row)

Answer

This code will produce no output.

Explanation

By default, csv.reader() uses a comma (,) as the delimiter to separate values in a CSV file.
But the delimiter in the file data.csv is semicolon (;), hence the rows won't split correctly,
leading to each row being treated as a single string. When the code checks if the row
contains the word 'the', it will only print rows where 'the' appears in the entire row.
Therefore, the given code will not output anything.

Question 14(a)

Identify the error in the following code.

import csv

f = open('attendees1.csv')

csv_f = csv.writer(f)

Answer

import csv

f = open('attendees1.csv') #error

csv_f = csv.writer(f)
To use the csv.writer() function, the file should be opened in write mode ('w'). The corrected
code is :

import csv

f = open('attendees1.csv', 'w')

csv_f = csv.writer(f)

Question 14(b)

Identify the error in the following code.

import csv

f = open('attendees1.csv')

csv_f = csv.reader()

for row in csv_f:

print(row)

Answer

import csv

f = open('attendees1.csv') #error 1

csv_f = csv.reader() #error 2

for row in csv_f:

print(row)

1. To use the csv.reader() function, the file should be opened in read mode ('r').

2. The reader object should be in syntax <name-of-reader-object> = csv.reader(<file-

handle>).

The corrected code is :

import csv

f = open('attendees1.csv', 'r')

csv_f = csv.reader(f)

for row in csv_f:

print(row)
Question 15

Identify the error in the following code.

import pickle

data = ['one', 2, [3, 4, 5]]

with open('data.dat', 'wb' :

pickle.dump(data)

Answer

import pickle

data = ['one', 2, [3, 4, 5]]

with open('data.dat', 'wb' : #error 1

pickle.dump(data) #error 2

1. There is a syntax error in the open() function call. The closing parenthesis is missing
in the open() function call. Also, file handle is not mentioned.

2. The pickle.dump() function requires two arguments - the object to be pickled and
the file object to which the pickled data will be written. However, in the provided
code, the pickle.dump() function is missing the file object argument.

The corrected code is :

import pickle

data = ['one', 2, [3, 4, 5]]

with open('data.dat', 'wb') as f:

pickle.dump(data, f)

Type C: Programming Practice/Knowledge based Questions

Question 1

Write a program that reads a text file and creates another file that is identical except that
every sequence of consecutive blank spaces is replaced by a single space.

Answer

Let the file "input.txt" include the following sample text:

In the beginning there was chaos.

Out of the chaos came order.

The universe began to take shape.

Stars formed and galaxies were born.

Life emerged in the vast expanse.

with open("input.txt", 'r') as f:

with open("output.txt", 'w') as fout:

for line in f:

modified_line = ' '.join(line.split())

fout.write(modified_line + '\n')

The file "output.txt" includes following text:

In the beginning there was chaos.

Out of the chaos came order.

The universe began to take shape.

Stars formed and galaxies were born.

Life emerged in the vast expanse.

Question 2

A file sports.dat contains information in following format:

Event - Participant
Write a function that would read contents from file sports.dat and creates a file named
Atheletic.dat copying only those records from sports.dat where the event name is
"Atheletics".

Answer

Let the file "sports.dat" include the following sample records:

Athletics - Rahul

Swimming - Tanvi

Athletics - Akash
Cycling - Kabir

Athletics - Riya

def filter_records(input_file, output_file):

with open(input_file, 'r') as f_in:

with open(output_file, 'w') as f_out:

for line in f_in:

event, participant = line.strip().split(' - ')

if event == 'Athletics':

f_out.write(line)

filter_records('sports.dat', 'Athletic.dat')

The file "Atheletic.dat" includes following records:

Athletics - Rahul

Athletics - Akash

Athletics - Riya

Question 3

A file contains a list of telephone numbers in the following form:

Arvind 7258031

Sachin 7259197

The names contain only one word, the names and telephone numbers are separated by
white spaces. Write program to read a file and display its contents in two columns.

Answer

Let the file "telephone.txt" include the following sample records:

Arvind 7258031

Sachin 7259197
Karuna 8479939

with open("telephone.txt", "r") as file:

f = file.readlines()

for line in f:

name, number = line.split()

print(name, '\t\t' ,number)

Output

Arvind 7258031

Sachin 7259197

Karuna 8479939

Question 4

Write a program to count the words "to" and "the" present in a text file "Poem.txt".

Answer

Let the file "Poem.txt" include the following sample text:

To be or not to be, that is the question.

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

To infinity and beyond!

The sun sets in the west.

To be successful, one must work hard.

to_count = 0

the_count = 0

with open("Poem.txt", 'r') as file:

for line in file:

words = line.split()

for word in words:

 if word.lower() == 'to':

to_count += 1

elif word.lower() == 'the':

the_count += 1

print("count of 'to': ", to_count)

print("count of 'the': ", the_count)

Output

count of 'to': 4

count of 'the': 5

Question 5

Write a function AMCount() in Python, which should read each character of a text file
STORY.TXT, should count and display the occurrence of alphabets A and M (including small
cases a and m too).

Example :
If the file content is as follows :
Updated information
As simplified by official websites.

The EUCount() function should display the output as :

A or a : 4
M or m : 2

Answer

Let the file "STORY.TXT" include the following sample text:

Updated information

As simplified by official websites.

def AMCount(file_path):

count_a = 0

count_m = 0
 with open(file_path, 'r') as file:

ch = ' '

while ch:

ch = file.read(1)

ch_low = ch.lower()

if ch_low == 'a':

count_a += 1

elif ch_low == 'm':

count_m += 1

print("A or a:", count_a)

print("M or m:", count_m)

AMCount("STORY.TXT")

Output

A or a: 4

M or m: 2

Question 6

Write a program to count the number of upper-case alphabets present in a text file
"Article.txt".

Answer

Let the file "Article.txt" include the following sample text:

PYTHON is a Popular Programming Language.

with open("Article.txt", 'r') as file:

text = file.read()

count = 0
 for char in text:

if char.isupper():

count += 1

print(count)

Output

Question 7

Write a program that copies one file to another. Have the program read the file names from
user ?

Answer

def copy_file(file1, file2):

with open(file1, 'r') as source:

with open(file2, 'w') as destination:

destination.write(source.read())

source_file = input("Enter the name of the source file: ")

destination_file = input("Enter the name of the destination file: ")

copy_file(source_file, destination_file)

Question 8

Write a program that appends the contents of one file to another. Have the program take
the filenames from the user.

Answer

def append_file(f1, f2):

with open(f1, 'r') as source:

with open(f2, 'a') as destination:

 destination.write(source.read())

source_file = input("Enter the name of the source file: ")

destination_file = input("Enter the name of the destination file: ")

append_file(source_file, destination_file)

Question 9

Write a method in python to read lines from a text file MYNOTES.TXT, and display those
lines, which are starting with an alphabet 'K'.

Answer

Let the file "MYNOTES.TXT" include the following sample text:

Kangaroo is a mammal native to Australia.

Lion is a large carnivorous.

Koala is an arboreal herbivorous.

Elephant is a large herbivorous mammal.

def display_lines(file_name):

with open(file_name, 'r') as file:

line = file.readline()

while line:

if line.strip().startswith('K'):

print(line.strip())

line = file.readline()

display_lines("MYNOTES.TXT")

Output

Kangaroo is a mammal native to Australia.

Koala is an arboreal herbivorous.

Question 10

Write a method/function DISPLAYWORDS() in python to read lines from a text file

STORY.TXT, and display those words, which are less than 4 characters.

Answer

Let "STORY.TXT" file contain the following text:

Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Jay

He had a dog named Leo

def DISPLAYWORDS(file_name):

with open(file_name, 'r') as file:

for line in file:

words = line.split()

for word in words:

if len(word) < 4:

print(word)

for line in file:

words = line.split()

for word in words:

if len(word) < 4:

print(word)

DISPLAYWORDS("STORY.TXT")

Output

was

a
boy

Jay

He

had

dog

Leo

Question 11

Write a program that reads characters from the keyboard one by one. All lower case
characters get stored inside the file LOWER, all upper case characters get stored inside the
file UPPER and all other characters get stored inside file OTHERS.

Answer

lower_file = open("LOWER.txt", 'w')

upper_file = open("UPPER.txt", 'w')

others_file = open("OTHERS.txt", 'w')

ans = 'y'

while ans == 'y':

char = input("Enter a character: ")

if char.islower():

lower_file.write(char + "\n")

elif char.isupper():

upper_file.write(char + "\n")

else:

others_file.write(char + "\n")

ans = input("Want to enter a character? (y/n): ")

lower_file.close()

upper_file.close()
others_file.close()

Output

Enter a character: e

Want to enter a character? (y/n): y

Enter a character: A

Want to enter a character? (y/n): y

Enter a character: D

Want to enter a character? (y/n): y

Enter a character: c

Want to enter a character? (y/n): y

Enter a character: 7

Want to enter a character? (y/n): y

Enter a character: @

Want to enter a character? (y/n): n

The file "LOWER.txt" includes:

The file "UPPER.txt" includes:

The file "OTHERS.txt" includes:

Question 12

Write a function in Python to count and display the number of lines starting with alphabet
'A' present in a text file "LINES.TXT". e.g., the file "LINES.TXT" contains the following lines:
A boy is playing there.

There is a playground.

An aeroplane is in the sky.

Alphabets & numbers are allowed in password.

the function should display the output as 3.

Answer

The file "LINES.TXT" contains the following lines:

A boy is playing there.

There is a playground.

An aeroplane is in the sky.

Alphabets & numbers are allowed in password.

def count_lines(file_name):

count = 0

with open(file_name, 'r') as file:

for line in file:

if line.strip().startswith('A'):

count += 1

print(count)

count_lines("LINES.TXT")

Output

Question 13

Write a program that counts the number of characters up to the first $ in a text file.

Answer

Let the sample file "myfile.txt" contain the following text:

Hello world! This is a test file.

It contains some characters until the first $ is encountered.

count = 0

with open("myfile.txt", 'r') as file:

while True:

char = file.read(1)

if char == '$' or not char:

break

count += 1

print(count)

Output

78

Question 14

Write a program that will create an object called filout for writing, associate it with the
filename STRS.txt. The code should keep on writing strings to it as long as the user wants.

Answer

with open('STRS.txt', 'w') as filout:

ans = 'y'

while ans == 'y':

string = input("Enter a string: ")

filout.write(string + "\n")

ans = input("Want to enter more strings?(y/n)...")

Output

Enter a string: Hello

Want to enter more strings?(y/n)...y

Enter a string: world!

Want to enter more strings?(y/n)...n

The file "STRS.txt" includes:

Hello

world!

Question 15

Consider the following definition of a dictionary Member, write a method in Python to write
the content in a pickled file member.dat.

Member = {'MemberNo.': ..............., 'Name': ...............}

Answer

import pickle

member1 = {'MemberNo.': '123456', 'Name': 'Pranav'}

member2 = {'MemberNo.': '456235', 'Name': 'Aman'}

def write_member():

file = open("member.dat", 'wb')

pickle.dump(member1, file)

pickle.dump(member2, file)

file.close()

write_member()

Question 16

Consider the following definition of dictionary Staff, write a method in python to search and
display content in a pickled file staff.dat, where Staffcode key of the dictionary is matching
with 'S0105'.

Staff = {'Staffcode': ..............., 'Name' = ...............}

Answer
Let the file "staff.dat" include following data:

Staff1 = {'Staffcode': 'S0102', 'Name': 'Sanya'}

Staff2 = {'Staffcode': 'S0104', 'Name': 'Anand'}

Staff3 = {'Staffcode': 'S0105', 'Name': 'Aditya'}

import pickle

def search_and_display_staff(staff_code):

found = False

try:

file = open("staff.dat", "rb")

while True:

staff_data = pickle.load(file)

if staff_data['Staffcode'] == staff_code:

print("Staffcode:", staff_data['Staffcode'])

print("Name:", staff_data['Name'])

found = True

except EOFError:

if found == False:

print("End of file reached. No such records found.")

else:

print("Search Successful")

file.close()
search_and_display_staff('S0105')

Output

Staffcode: S0105

Name: Aditya

Question 17

Considering the following definition of dictionary COMPANY, write a method in Python to

search and display the content in a pickled file COMPANY.DAT, where CompID key of the
dictionary is matching with the value '1005'.

Company = {'CompID' = ........., 'CName' = ........., 'Turnover' = .........}

Answer

Let the file "COMPANY.DAT" include following data:

Company1 = {'CompID': '1001', 'CName': 'ABC', 'Turnover': 500000}

Company2 = {'CompID': '1003', 'CName': 'DEF', 'Turnover': 600000}

Company3 = {'CompID': '1005', 'CName': 'LMN', 'Turnover': 900000}

import pickle

def company(comp_id):

found = False

try:

file = open("COMPANY.DAT", "rb")

while True:

company_data = pickle.load(file)

if company_data['CompID'] == comp_id:

print("Company ID:", company_data['CompID'])

print("Company Name:", company_data['CName'])

print("Turnover:", company_data['Turnover'])
 found = True

except EOFError:

if found == False:

print("End of file reached. No such records found.")

else:

print("Search Successful")

file.close()

company('1005')

Output

Company ID: 1005

Company Name: LMN

Turnover: 900000

Question 18

Write a function to search and display details of all trains, whose destination is "Delhi" from
a binary file "TRAIN.DAT". Assuming the binary file is containing the objects of the following
dictionary type:

Train = {'Tno': ..............., 'From': ...............,'To': ...............}

Answer

Let the dictionary contained in file "TRAIN.DAT" be as shown below:

Train1 = {'Tno': '1234', 'From': 'Mumbai', 'To': 'Delhi'}

Train2 = {'Tno': '5678', 'From': 'Chennai', 'To': 'Delhi'}

Train3 = {'Tno': '9012', 'From': 'Kolkata', 'To': 'Mumbai'}

Train4 = {'Tno': '3456', 'From': 'Delhi', 'To': 'Bangalore'}

Train5 = {'Tno': '7890', 'From': 'Pune', 'To': 'Delhi'}

import pickle

def search_trains():

found = False

try:

file = open("TRAIN.DAT", "rb")

while True:

trains = pickle.load(file)

if trains['To'] == "Delhi":

print("Train no: ", trains['Tno'])

print("From: ", trains['From'])

print("To: ", trains['To'])

found = True

except EOFError:

if found == False:

print("End of file reached. No such records found.")

else:

print("Search Successful")

file.close()

search_trains()

Output

Train no: 1234

From: Mumbai

To: Delhi

Train no: 5678

From: Chennai

To: Delhi

Train no: 7890

From: Pune

To: Delhi

Search Successful

Question 19

A binary file "Book.dat" has structure [BookNo, Book_Name, Author, Price].

(i) Write a user defined function CreateFile() to input data for a record and add to Book.dat.

(ii) Write a function CountRec(Author) in Python which accepts the Author name as
parameter and count and return number of books by the given Author are stored in the
binary file "Book.dat"

Answer

Let the file "Book.dat" include following data:

Book1 = [1001, Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie, 29.99]

Book2 = [1004, A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth, 59.9]

Book3 = [1003, The White Tiger, Aravind Adiga, 49.5]

Book4 = [1002, The Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie, 39.23]

import pickle

def CreateFile():

file = open("Book.dat", "ab")

BookNo = int(input("Enter Book Number: "))

Book_Name = input("Enter Book Name: ")

 Author = input("Enter Author Name: ")

Price = float(input("Enter Price: "))

record = [BookNo, Book_Name, Author, Price]

pickle.dump(record, file)

file.close()

def CountRec(authorName):

count = 0

found = False

try:

file = open("Book.dat", "rb")

while True:

record = pickle.load(file)

if record[2] == authorName:

count += 1

found = True

except EOFError:

if found == False:

print("End of file reached. No such records found.")

else:

print("Search successful")

file.close()

return count

CreateFile()
author = input("Enter Author name to count books: ")

print("Number of books by", author, ":", CountRec(author))

Output

Enter Book Number: 1008

Enter Book Name: Three Thousand Stiches

Enter Author Name: Sudha Murty

Enter Price: 200

Enter Author name to count books: Salman Rushdie

Search successful

Number of books by Salman Rushdie : 2

Question 20

Write a function Show_words() in python to read the content of a text file 'NOTES.TXT' and
display only such lines of the file which have exactly 5 words in them.

Example, if the file contains :

This is a sample file.

The file contains many sentences.
But need only sentences which have only 5 words.

Then the function should display the output as :

This is a sample file.

The file contains many sentences.

Answer

The file "NOTES.TXT" contains:

This is a sample file.

The file contains many sentences.

But need only sentences which have only 5 words.

def Show_words(file_name):

with open(file_name, 'r') as file:

 for line in file:

words = line.strip().split()

if len(words) == 5:

print(line.strip())

Show_words('NOTES.TXT')

Output

This is a sample file.

The file contains many sentences.

Question 21

Write a Python program to read a given CSV file having tab delimiter.

Answer

Let "example.csv" file contain the following data:

Name Age Gender

Kavya 25 Female

Kunal 30 Male

Nisha 28 Female

import csv

with open("example.csv", 'r', newline='') as file:

reader = csv.reader(file, delimiter='\t')

for row in reader:

print(row)

Output

['Name Age Gender']

['Kavya 25 Female']

['Kunal 30 Male']

['Nisha 28 Female']

Question 22

Write a Python program to write a nested Python list to a csv file in one go. After writing the
CSV file read the CSV file and display the content.

Answer

import csv

def write_nested_list(data, file_name):

with open(file_name, 'w', newline='') as file:

writer = csv.writer(file)

writer.writerows(data)

def read_csv(file_name):

with open(file_name, 'r') as file:

reader = csv.reader(file)

for row in reader:

print(row)

nested_list = [['Name', 'Age', 'Gender'],

['Prateek', '14', 'Male'],

['Ananya', '24', 'Female'],

['Aryan', '44', 'Male']]

write_nested_list(nested_list, 'output.csv')

print("Content of 'output.csv':")

read_csv('output.csv')

Output

['Name', 'Age', 'Gender']

['Prateek', '14', 'Male']

['Ananya', '24', 'Female']

['Aryan', '44', 'Male']

Question 23

Write a function that reads a csv file and creates another csv file with the same content,
but with a different delimiter.

Answer

Let "original.csv" file contain the following data:

Product,Price,Quantity

Apple,1.99,100

Banana,0.99,150

Orange,2.49,80

import csv

def change_delimiter(input_file, output_file, input_delimiter, output_delimiter):

with open(input_file, 'r', newline='') as f_in:

reader = csv.reader(f_in, delimiter = input_delimiter)

data = list(reader)
 with open(output_file, 'w', newline='') as f_out:

writer = csv.writer(f_out, delimiter = output_delimiter)

writer.writerows(data)

change_delimiter('original.csv', 'modified.csv', ',', '|')

Contents of "modified.csv":

Product|Price|Quantity

Apple|1.99|100

Banana|0.99|150

Orange|2.49|80

Question 24

Write a function that reads a csv file and creates another csv file with the same content
except the lines beginning with 'check'.

Answer

Let "input.csv" file contain the following data:

check1,10,A

check2,20,B

data1,30,C

check3,40,D

data2,50,E

import csv

def filter(input_file, output_file):

with open(input_file, 'r', newline='') as f_in, open(output_file, 'w', newline='') as f_out:

reader = csv.reader(f_in)

writer = csv.writer(f_out)
 for row in reader:

if not row[0].startswith('check'):

writer.writerow(row)

filter('input.csv', 'output.csv')

Contents of "output.csv":

data1,30,C

data2,50,E

Question 25

Give any one point of difference between a binary file and a CSV file.

Write a Program in Python that defines and calls the following user defined functions :

(a) add(). To accept and add data of an employee to a CSV file 'furdata.csv'. Each record
consists of a list with field elements as fid, fname and fprice to store furniture id, furniture
name and furniture price respectively.

(b) search(). To display the records of the furniture whose price is more than 10000.

Answer

The difference between a binary file and CSV file is that binary files are used for storing
complex data in a non-human-readable format and they store data in a sequence of bytes,
while CSV files are plain text files used for storing structured tabular data in a human-
readable text format.

Let the file "furdata.csv" include following data:

[1, table, 20000]

[2, chair, 12000]

[3, board, 10000]

import csv
def add():

with open('furdata.csv', mode='a', newline='') as file:

writer = csv.writer(file)

fid = input("Enter furniture id: ")

fname = input("Enter furniture name: ")

fprice = float(input("Enter furniture price: "))

writer.writerow([fid, fname, fprice])

print("Record added successfully to 'furdata.csv'")

def search():

found = False

with open('furdata.csv', mode='r') as file:

reader = csv.reader(file)

print("Records of furniture with price more than 10000:")

for row in reader:

if len(row) == 3 and float(row[2]) > 10000:

print("Furniture ID:", row[0])

print("Furniture Name:", row[1])

print("Furniture Price:", row[2])

print()

found = True

if found == False:

print("No records of furniture with price more than 10000 found")

add()

search()

Output

Enter furniture id: 9

Enter furniture name: desk

Enter furniture price: 3000

Record added successfully to 'furdata.csv'

Records of furniture with price more than 10000:

Furniture ID: 1

Furniture Name: table

Furniture Price: 20000

Furniture ID: 2

Furniture Name: chair

Furniture Price: 12000