Selecting multiple specific columns in excel and exporting to CSV using Python

Question

I'm trying to extract 3 columns in a large excel spreadsheet and export it to CSV format. I have XLRD but have found that there are no column specific tools I can use (Or maybe I just overlooked it).

An example excel spreadsheet I have looks like the following

Column1        Column2         Column3        Column4         Column5         Column6
1              2               3              4               5               6
1              2               3              4               5               6
1              2               3              4               5               6
1              2               3              4               5               6
1              2               3              4               5               6
1              2               3              4               5               6
1              2               3              4               5               6
1              2               3              4               5               6

I'm looking to get just Column2, Column5, and Column6 into a CSV. The other columns are for internal use only. I'm been experimenting with python and it looks roughly like this:

import xlrd
import csv

def excelToCSV():

wb = xlrd.open_workbook('my spreadsheet')
sheet = wb.sheet_by_name('Sheet1')
csvFile = open('output', 'wb')
wr = csv.writer(csvFile, quoting=csv.QUOTE_ALL)

for rownum in xrange(sheet.nrows):
    wr.writerow(sheet.row_values(rownum))
    print (sheet.row_values(rownum,3))

The last part is where things kind of fall apart, What I have now only prints column4 and onwards whereas I want to be able to select certain ones (hard coded in). Any advice would be appreciated.

I have also tried adding in something like (3,4) which then only prints column4. With that logic I tried adding another print line but that only comes out unformatted.

*The print statements aren't going to be part of the code, but they do help me visualize whats going to come out. I hope this isn't bad practice.

DAXaholic · Accepted Answer · 2016-07-19 16:56:09Z

0

Try that for exporting the 2nd and 3rd column as an example

...    
for rownum in xrange(sheet.nrows):
        wr.writerow([sheet.cell(rownum, 1).value, 
                     sheet.cell(rownum, 2).value])

edited Jul 19, 2016 at 16:56

answered Jul 19, 2016 at 16:49

DAXaholic

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1 Comment

RottenLettuce Over a year ago

That did exactly what I needed it to do! if it's not to much to ask, could you also explain what line does exactly using "cell"?

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