With my Ph.D. program starting this fall, I expect I’ll be doing a lot more programming. I used to program a lot as an undergraduate, but, well, that was a long time ago.
I’ve been teaching myself Python, so I was excited when I learned a colleague was looking for a way to convert an .xml file to a .csv file. There was just one specific variable they were looking to export into .csv format, so the code is specific to that.
Since I’ll probably be coding a lot more, I figured I’d post this bit of code here.
_____
import csv
from xml.etree import ElementTree
infile = raw_input(“Name of xml file: “) # ask user for file to convert
# create name output file, same as input file replacing .xml with .csv
out = ” ”
for letter in infile:
if letter != “.”:
out += letter
else:
break
out += “.csv”
# parse input file
with open(infile, ‘rt’) as f:
tree = ElementTree.parse(f)
#identify data to export to .csv
out_data = []
out_data.append(‘beta’) # header column: variable we’re interested in
out_data.append(‘source’) # header column: name of file being converted
for node in tree.iter(): #iterate through .xml file
if node.tag == “{http://www.dmg.org/PMML-4_1}PCell”: #look for the tag holding the variable we’re interested in
beta = node.attrib.get(‘beta’) #grab data from variable we’re interested in
out_data.append(beta) # add data to output
out_data.append(infile) # add name of converted file to output
# write .csv file
out_file = open(out, “wb”)
csv_writer = csv.writer(out_file, quoting=csv.QUOTE_NONE)
count = 0
for row in out_data: #iterate through output data putting commas and line breaks in correct places
count += 1
out_file.write(row) # write data to .csv file
if count%2 == 0:
csv_writer.writerow(” “) # we’re outputing two columns of data, so add a line break if two columns have been added
else:
out_file.write(“,”) #else, add a “,” to seperate data elements on the same row
out_file.close() # close file
print “wrote %s” % out
As creative director, Andy has been the graphic design force behind our website and publications, quietly anchoring NCDD’s infrastructure and fostering its growth for the past 12 years. He may be best known for developing the website from a handful of pages to what it is today: a 6,000-page compendium widely regarded as the leading source for news and resources in the field. In NCDD’s first 12 years, Andy 
Above all, Andy has been essential as a problem solver, stepping into new responsibilities and mastering new skills on the fly. “There is no accomplishment that I’m more proud of than my overall ability to solve problems and create opportunities with little or no financial investment,” he said. “In every task, I’ve dedicated myself to seeking the most cost-efficient and productive ways to make things happen for NCDD.”
California Secretary of State last year in a bid to become, as he calls it, the state’s “Chief Engagement Officer.”