[Solved] Open a File in Python

Public forum Technical questions
1

When i follow the instructions for the exercise “Opening a File in Python” as given at:
http://www.afterhoursprogramming.com/tutorial/Python/Reading-Files/

i get the FileNotFoundError: [Errno 2]

My .txt file to open is in the same directory as the .ipynb (Python) file.
Probably there are some problems with the permissions or something. How could we Solve this?

2

Reading from file with python

Usefull link about in- and outputs in Python 3

The best practice here is to use “With open file” so you won’t have to bother about closing files and error handling.

# Read the whole file in a string
with open('test.txt', 'r') as f:
    data = f.read()
 
print(data)

# Or put the lines in a list
with open('test.txt', 'r') as f:
    data = f.read().splitlines()
 
print(data)

You could also use f.readline() to read

Not worth reading, still here for reference.

Thanks for your question. Can you be more specific?

  • what is your os / anaconda version
  • what is the exact code you are trying to run?
  • what is the content of your file?

edit:

  • from what folder are you trying to run your code?
  • can you make a screenshot of the Jupyter file list like below?

My steps to reproduce

Create file “test.txt” with some random content in the same directory as the Jupyter Notebook file

image
image.png1033×572 20.7 KB

Python code in Jupyter Notebook:

f = open("test.txt","r") #opens file with name of "test.txt"

print(f.read())

Output when running the code:

image
image.png1193×365 15.1 KB

If you provide the details as requested above I might be able to help you out.

3

Hi,

Thanks for the quick reply.

  • i use the versions: anaconda 4.4.0 and python 3.6.1 on my windows 10
  • The code i try to run is directly copied out of the excersize:
    output
    output.PNG1187×197 3.62 KB

Here is the file “.txt” file located, in the same folder:
files
(the checked boxes are the ones i used)

Although this time i figured out why i got the error. It’s because i deleted the “.txt” at the filename by changing it.

But now as shown, i don’t get any print results.
Also the f.readline() command doesn’t work.
This time i’m sure the link works because of no errors.

So again is something weird going on here.

4

Would you mind sharing the content of test.txt? :smile:

edit: I tested with a space in the folder name, and that doesn’t make a difference here. Everything is still working as expected. Can’t seem to reproduce your problem so far.

5

The content was like you wrote.
Probably the edited .txt file (with content) wasn’t saved before i ran the program.
So the saved (default) version i wanted to open was ofcourse empty.
I tried to run the program a couple minutes later and now the .txt was autosaved which made the program run.
My problem is solved!

Thanks for your help