Python - Read second column from file

Question

My input file has two columns. I am trying to print the second column of inputdata1.txt within a second for-loop. But my code is not working. Can someone tell me what should I do?

Answer 1

with open('inputdata1.txt') as inf:
    for line in inf:
        parts = line.split() # split line into parts
        if len(parts) > 1:   # if at least 2 parts/columns
            print parts[1]   # print column 2

This assumes the columns are separated by whitespace.

Function split() can specify different separators. For instance if the columns were separated with commas , you'd use line.split(',') in the code above.

NOTE: Using with to open your file automatically closes it when you are done, or if you encounter an exception.

Answer 2

You could do something like this. Separator is the character your file uses to separate colums, e.g. tabs or commas.

for line in open("inputfile.txt"):
    columns = line.split(separator)
    if len(columns) >= 2:
        print columns[1]