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[243] Introducing .csv files and the Wing IDE (2/17)

in series: Python 101 - easygui and csv

video tutorial by Ian Ozsvald

Name: [002] Ian Ozsvald
Member: 52 months
Authored: 181 videos
Description: I am the co-founder of ShowMeDo (see http://showmedo.com/about), author of `The Screencasting Handbook <http://thescreencastinghandbook.com>`_ and the founder of the professional screencast production ...

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(Showmedo is undergoing major changes. To report any problems viewing the videos please email us and include browser and OS specifics. Cheers - Kyran.)

The aim of this series is to build a working tool which reads a .csv file, creates averages, writes a new .csv file and does so with some nice user-interface controls. To begin we need to know about .csv files (csv at wikipedia) and we need to test our choice of IDE - Wing IDE.

We check that Wing's IDE works by writing a simple file and we execute both from inside Wing and from the DOS command line. If you have trouble with the command line then you might find this Python Newbies on XP series useful - it shows you how to use the command line, it also introduces the PyDev (free) IDE in Eclipse. We also have other PyDev and SPE videos.

Task: create measured.csv as shown in the video, create the simple csvReader.py file and check that you can execute it.

Created May 2007, running time: 8 minutes

writing work wingware wing videos video values user useful understanding tutorials tutorial tools tool time test-driven test tasks task start screencasts screencast running review refactoring read python pydev programmers programmer problem print nosetests newbies newbie modules module messages make learning keep job interfaces interface graphics good fully-worked files file exceptions eclipse easygui development debugging csv create control complete commands comma-separated-values comma-separated- code builds build beginners beginner_programming beginner application aims XP SPE IDE

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Get answers in the ShowMeDo Learners Google Group.

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16. rafapi Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:35

So, in this video you talk about filling up an excel file and about some other videos in this website... mmm

15. John Graves Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:47

An index and resources would be particularly helpful for this video since you run off topic quite a bit:

CSV Files

Index of topics:

4:00 python run on command line

4:26 Other development environments - WING

4:56 Python Newbies on XP

5:20 PyDev

5:47 SPE - Stanley's(?) Python Editor

6:20 Running Python on XP

Resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comma-separated_values

(fill in links to the other development environments here)

14. anonymous Sat, 08 Aug 2009 13:29

I can't figure out what Python is all about. I do want to convert a csv file to something I can use in Google Earth. In the Google tutorial they say to use Python but it looks to me like wild overkill to just put a path on the screen. I'm really new at programming (tho old in computer hardware design). I can't even figure out how to get a pre canned .kml file to show up in my google Earth! If I could I could probably just edit one of their path demos.

13. anonymous Mon, 03 Aug 2009 11:12

Great Site, Thanks for the Info!

12. Tim Bower Wed, 20 May 2009 15:19

Thanks, looks like it will be pretty basic, but fun series. I'm hoping to fill in a few holes in my understand.

So here's a question: I'm wondering IDE people are using. I use Linux and Windows. I mostly just gvim an the command line now, but have used Idle. I'm wondering about trying a more advanced IDE like Wing, SCE or Eclipse with pyDev.

Thanks,

Tim

11. Ian Ozsvald Tue, 04 Nov 2008 03:20

Are you a paying member? This is one of our Club videos, you need to be a paying member to view/download them.

I've just tested the download link, it works fine for me, the file definitely exists.

Ian.

10. xiaoqiang Mon, 03 Nov 2008 22:59

My network connection is a bit slow.

When I tried to download the video, the browers told me that the link is not valid.

Would you help me ?

9. Simon W Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:18

Just beginning Python and having real-world need to handle CSVs, this was a good introduction to the general idea of tackling CSV files and the Python tools available.

I would not mind knowing a bit more about how some of the open source community free tools compare with Wing, especially ipython. I'm not sure I'm ready to appreciate Wing. Should I try and follow along with Wing101 for the time being?

8. quant Sat, 08 Mar 2008 15:49

I think it is a good idea to start from the basics.

7. Erik Fri, 22 Feb 2008 22:07

Great, at least I learn something about the other ide's, but I am still stumbling, have the most luck with Boa-Constructor

6. richard1956 Tue, 19 Feb 2008 19:48

Even for a beginner like me I had no problem understanding.

Nice work

5. Ryan Galbraith, GISP Thu, 14 Feb 2008 13:08

Excellent presentation as always.

4. Ian Ozsvald Wed, 20 Jun 2007 03:03

Hi Dave, welcome to the series. I think providing background information is important, I've added some more wikipedia links throughout the series.

Cheers,

Ian.

3. DaveB Tue, 19 Jun 2007 20:18

Nice quick intro to CSV files. Very clear explanation of what CSV is and how to go about creating a CSV file in Excel. I also like how you referenced wikipedia in this one - its good to show everyone external sources that may be helpful!

2. Ian Ozsvald Thu, 14 Jun 2007 09:37

Yes, I like to link to wikipedia for background material. I think providing lots of background is a Good Thing as it helps us learn more about all these topics.

I figured that handling csv files was useful for scientists and students - it lends itself well to file-based experiments in files and could be immediately useful.

Re. other countries and csv files - yes, I'd forgotten about that. I used to work in Paris and the decimal-point and comma have reversed uses. Hmmm, I'm not sure there's an easy solution though?

Ian.

Horst Jens Sat, 09 Jun 2007 01:05

Wow, cool idea to quote wikipedia from within a video ! Have to check if wikipedia back-linked to you ...

I like the idea of an python program to handle csv-files. I remember that writing an lotus123-csv converter was the first program i wrote (in turbo pascal).

Note that german-language systems use the comma (",") as a decimal point sign and the point "." as an sign to distinct the thousend from hundreds. (we write 6.543,21 € meaning 6thousend-something Euro and 21 Cent) wich is always an extra-headache if you want to transfer such a number (from a string variable) into a number.