Python DictReader Examples

In this post, I am giving some examples of Python DictReader method to read the CSV files. For the following examples, I am using the customers.csv file, and the contents of the CSV is as below.

FIRST_NAME,LAST_NAME,PHONE_NUMBER,JOB_ID
John,Erns,515.123.4568,AD_VP
Lex,De Haan,515.123.4569,AD_VP
Alexander,Hunold,590.423.4567,IT_PROG
Bruce,Ernst,590.423.4568,IT_PROG

Read CSV File Contents Using DictReader in Python

In the following Python program example, it will read the CSV file and print the contents on the screen.

import csv

with open("customers.csv", "r") as csv_file:
    csv_reader = csv.DictReader(csv_file, delimiter=',')
    for lines in csv_reader:
            print(lines)

Output

OrderedDict([('FIRST_NAME', 'John'), ('LAST_NAME', 'Erns'), ('PHONE_NUMBER', '515.123.4568'), ('JOB_ID', 'AD_VP')])
OrderedDict([('FIRST_NAME', 'Lex'), ('LAST_NAME', 'De Haan'), ('PHONE_NUMBER', '515.123.4569'), ('JOB_ID', 'AD_VP')])
OrderedDict([('FIRST_NAME', 'Alexander'), ('LAST_NAME', 'Hunold'), ('PHONE_NUMBER', '590.423.4567'), ('JOB_ID', 'IT_PROG')])
OrderedDict([('FIRST_NAME', 'Bruce'), ('LAST_NAME', 'Ernst'), ('PHONE_NUMBER', '590.423.4568'), ('JOB_ID', 'IT_PROG')])

Access Columns Through First Header Line of CSV Using DictReader

In the following example, it will read and print the first name, last name and job id by using the header row of the CSV file.

import csv

with open("customers.csv", "r") as csv_file:
    csv_reader = csv.DictReader(csv_file, delimiter=',')
    for lines in csv_reader:
            print(lines['FIRST_NAME'], lines['LAST_NAME'], lines['JOB_ID'])

Output

John Erns AD_VP
Lex De Haan AD_VP
Alexander Hunold IT_PROG
Bruce Ernst IT_PROG

Using the FIELDNAMES Clause in DictReader Method

In the below example, it will create the fields list in the columns list variable and then will print the first three columns.

import csv

with open("customers.csv", "r") as csv_file:
    columns = ['FIRST_NAME', 'LAST_NAME', 'PHONE_NUMBER']
    csv_reader = csv.DictReader(csv_file, fieldnames=columns, delimiter=',')
    for lines in csv_reader:
            print(lines['FIRST_NAME'], lines['LAST_NAME'], lines['PHONE_NUMBER'])

Output

FIRST_NAME LAST_NAME PHONE_NUMBER
John Erns 515.123.4568
Lex De Haan 515.123.4569
Alexander Hunold 590.423.4567
Bruce Ernst 590.423.4568

You can notice, that the above program also prints the header row, which you can skip as shown in the following example:

import csv

with open("customers.csv", "r") as csv_file:
    columns = ['FIRST_NAME', 'LAST_NAME', 'PHONE_NUMBER']
    csv_reader = csv.DictReader(csv_file, fieldnames=columns, delimiter=',')
    next(csv_reader)
    for lines in csv_reader:
            print(lines['FIRST_NAME'], lines['LAST_NAME'], lines['PHONE_NUMBER'])

Output

John Erns 515.123.4568
Lex De Haan 515.123.4569
Alexander Hunold 590.423.4567
Bruce Ernst 590.423.4568

See also:

• Import CSV into Oracle Table in Python