Reading flat files

In contrast to the CSV files seen earlier, a flat file does not contain any separator between the fields. Since there is no separator, all records in a flat file are usually of the same length, as the length of columns is the only way of separating data. Prior to the advent of spreadsheet programs, it was a common practice to use only flat files. Flat files are still used according to the preference of the authors.

Getting ready

In this example, we will be using Python to read in a flat file. The pandas library of routines includes a function to read flat files, read_fwf. Your Python script passes in the column widths and names to read_fwf, and the function returns a DataFrame.

Of course, now that I am looking...