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Is there a way by which I can check if a csv file contains a header without importing any modules like the csv or panda module? I keep getting an error when I try to use readlines as the header contains a utf-8 character (a degree symbol).

Rachel
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1 Answers1

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You know that the header of a csv file is its first line separated by commas.

By opening the file and reading its first line you can obtain the information that you need:

f = open('file.csv', 'r', encoding='utf-8') #open file
headers = f.readline().split(',') #get headers list
f.close() #close file
AmNotSmort
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  • Yes I do know this, but my header contains a degree symbol and so I am getting an error as it cannot be read. ```Traceback (most recent call last): File "main.py", line 3, in headers = file.readline().split(',') File "/usr/lib/python3.8/codecs.py", line 322, in decode (result, consumed) = self._buffer_decode(data, self.errors, final) UnicodeDecodeError: 'utf-8' codec can't decode byte 0xb0 in position 40: invalid start byte``` – Rachel Apr 04 '21 at 22:15
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    you have to specify the encoding while opening the file, I modified my answer. Next time specify the error by putting it explicitly in the Question – AmNotSmort Apr 04 '21 at 22:18
  • I am still getting the same error as before even after modifying my code – Rachel Apr 04 '21 at 22:34
  • You have to know which encoding is used to encode your file because it's not utf-8 if it's failing, then change 'utf-8' with your specific encoding. – AmNotSmort Apr 05 '21 at 04:35