Combining Text File Contents into a Single Line in Python

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A common requirement in data processing is to combine multiple lines of a text file into a single line. This article explores a Python script designed to do exactly that—merge all lines in each text file within a specified directory into one line.

The Python Script

Importing the Required Module

import os

We start by importing the os module, which is essential for file and directory operations in Python.

Specifying the Target Directory

directory = "txt"

The directory variable is set to the path of the folder that contains the text files you want to process.

Processing Each Text File

for filename in os.listdir(directory):
    if filename.endswith(".txt"):
        filepath = os.path.join(directory, filename)
        # File processing continues here

This loop goes through each file in the specified directory. The if statement ensures that only text files (.txt) are processed.

Reading and Combining Lines

with open(filepath, "r", encoding='utf-8') as file:
    lines = file.readlines()

In this block, the script reads all lines from the file and stores them in the lines variable. The file is opened with utf-8 encoding for better text compatibility.

Rewriting the File with Combined Lines

with open(filepath, "w", encoding='utf-8') as file:
    single_line = ''.join([line.strip() for line in lines])
    file.write(single_line)

Here, the script rewrites the file. It combines all lines into a single line by:

  1. Stripping each line of leading and trailing whitespace.
  2. Joining them together without any additional characters (empty string as the joiner).
  3. Writing this single line back to the file.

Conclusion

This script demonstrates Python’s capability for efficient text file manipulation. By converting multiline text files into single-line files, this approach can be beneficial for preparing data for certain types of data processing tasks, like creating datasets for machine learning models or simplifying parsing requirements for other applications.

Python’s simplicity and the powerful file handling offered by the standard library make it an excellent choice for automating routine text file processing tasks, saving time and reducing the potential for manual errors.