TXT Files

To read text files in pandas, you can use the same function, pd.read_csv(). However, to ensure the text file is read correctly, it's essential to use an additional parameter called sep, which stands for separator or delimiter in the text.

# Importing pandas library
import pandas as pd

# Reading a text file into a DataFrame
text_data = pd.read_csv('file.txt', sep='\r', header=None)

If your text file doesn't have a header row containing column names, set the header parameter to None. Doing so informs pandas not to treat the first row as column names.

Note

To use a new line as the separator in a file, which is common in text files, set sep='\r'. Here, '\r' stands for a carriage return, which is a special character used to indicate a new line.

Extracting a Single Row

Once your text file is loaded into a DataFrame, you can access individual rows using .iloc[], passing the position of the row you want:

# Extracting the first row
first_row = text_data.iloc[0]

Note

When you select a single row (or a single column) from a DataFrame, pandas doesn't return another DataFrame — it returns a Series. A Series is a one-dimensional labeled array, meaning it holds a single sequence of values along with an index, but no separate column structure. This is why first_row will look and behave a bit differently from text_data: it won't have .columns, and printing it will show the index alongside each value rather than a table layout.

Everything was clear?

Thanks for your feedback!

Section 2. Chapter 2

single

Swipe to show menu

To read text files in pandas, you can use the same function, pd.read_csv(). However, to ensure the text file is read correctly, it's essential to use an additional parameter called sep, which stands for separator or delimiter in the text.

# Importing pandas library
import pandas as pd

# Reading a text file into a DataFrame
text_data = pd.read_csv('file.txt', sep='\r', header=None)

If your text file doesn't have a header row containing column names, set the header parameter to None. Doing so informs pandas not to treat the first row as column names.

Note

To use a new line as the separator in a file, which is common in text files, set sep='\r'. Here, '\r' stands for a carriage return, which is a special character used to indicate a new line.

Extracting a Single Row

Once your text file is loaded into a DataFrame, you can access individual rows using .iloc[], passing the position of the row you want:

# Extracting the first row
first_row = text_data.iloc[0]

Note

When you select a single row (or a single column) from a DataFrame, pandas doesn't return another DataFrame — it returns a Series. A Series is a one-dimensional labeled array, meaning it holds a single sequence of values along with an index, but no separate column structure. This is why first_row will look and behave a bit differently from text_data: it won't have .columns, and printing it will show the index alongside each value rather than a table layout.

Task

Swipe to start coding

You are given a URL to a TXT file stored as a string in the file_url variable.

Read the TXT file into a DataFrame named text_data. Each line in the file is separated by a carriage return ('\r'). The file doesn't has column names, so use header parameter correctly.
Then extract the first row of the DataFrame and store it in a variable called first_row.

Solution

Switch to desktop for real-world practiceContinue from where you are using one of the options below

Everything was clear?

Thanks for your feedback!

Section 2. Chapter 2

single

Ask AI

Ask anything or try one of the suggested questions to begin our chat