TXT_divide-by-delimiters.py

# SCRIPT TO READ SEMI-STRUCTURED BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA FROM TXT AND WRITE THEM TO CSV

#!/usr/bin/env python
# coding: utf-8

import os
import os.path
from os.path import dirname, join
import re
import csv

delimiters=["Geburtsbrief für ", "Aussteller: ", "S. "] # Keywords that indicate a new type of information
in_file="C:\\Users\\mobarget\\Google Drive\\ACADEMIA\\9_INSULAE\\SignaturTitel_GeburtsbriefeMainz_1-100.txt"
out_directory="C:\\Users\\mobarget\\Google Drive\\ACADEMIA\\9_INSULAE"
out_file=os.path.join(out_directory, "geburtsbriefe_1-99.csv")   

regexPattern= '|'.join(map(re.escape, delimiters)) # regex needed because split cannot handle variables from list
print(regexPattern)
print(type(regexPattern)) # the correct type of the regexPattern has to be a string

with open(in_file, "r", encoding="utf-8", errors="ignore") as f:
    data=f.read()

def split_and_write(d): # split text by delimiters and write to CSV table
    results=[]
    results=d.split("G /") # separates individual results from each other
    print(results[:10])
    
    for result in results: # extracts different information from each result
        result_stripped=result.strip() # removes empty lines and whitespace at the end of each result
        if not result_stripped: 
            print("EMPTY")
            continue # excludes results consisting only in whitespace or empty lines
        else:
            result_string=str(result_stripped) # reads valid result as string
            result_clean=result_string.replace("\n", "").replace(",", "/").replace(";","/") # removes empty lines and replace special characters that mess up CSV
            chunks=re.split(regexPattern, result_clean) # extracts different information types from result by Regex defined above
            print("\n TO BE ADDED TO CSV:", chunks) # checks if list output is correct
            with open(out_file, 'a', newline='', encoding="utf-8") as csvoutput: # adds data without overwriting existing content
                writer=csv.writer(csvoutput, dialect="excel")
                writer.writerow(chunks) # writes each set of bibliographic information per result to a new row
            
split_and_write(data)

print("done")