How to use StringIO in Python3?

Question

I am using Python 3.2.1 and I can't import the StringIO module. I use io.StringIO and it works, but I can't use it with numpy's genfromtxt like this:

x="1 3\n 4.5 8"        
numpy.genfromtxt(io.StringIO(x))

I get the following error:

TypeError: Can't convert 'bytes' object to str implicitly  

and when I write import StringIO it says

ImportError: No module named 'StringIO'

Solution 1

when i write import StringIO it says there is no such module.

From What’s New In Python 3.0:

The StringIO and cStringIO modules are gone. Instead, import the io module and use io.StringIO or io.BytesIO for text and data respectively.

.

---

A possibly useful method of fixing some Python 2 code to also work in Python 3 (caveat emptor):

try:
    from StringIO import StringIO ## for Python 2
except ImportError:
    from io import StringIO ## for Python 3

Note: This example may be tangential to the main issue of the question and is included only as something to consider when generically addressing the missing StringIO module. For a more direct solution the message TypeError: Can't convert 'bytes' object to str implicitly, see this answer.

Solution 2

In my case I have used:

from io import StringIO

Solution 3

On Python 3 numpy.genfromtxt expects a bytes stream. Use the following:

numpy.genfromtxt(io.BytesIO(x.encode()))

Solution 4

Thank you OP for your question, and Roman for your answer. I had to search a bit to find this; I hope the following helps others.

Python 2.7

See: https://docs.scipy.org/doc/numpy/user/basics.io.genfromtxt.html

import numpy as np
from StringIO import StringIO

data = "1, abc , 2\n 3, xxx, 4"

print type(data)
"""
<type 'str'>
"""

print '\n', np.genfromtxt(StringIO(data), delimiter=",", dtype="|S3", autostrip=True)
"""
[['1' 'abc' '2']
 ['3' 'xxx' '4']]
"""

print '\n', type(data)
"""
<type 'str'>
"""

print '\n', np.genfromtxt(StringIO(data), delimiter=",", autostrip=True)
"""
[[  1.  nan   2.]
 [  3.  nan   4.]]
"""

Python 3.5:

import numpy as np
from io import StringIO
import io

data = "1, abc , 2\n 3, xxx, 4"
#print(data)
"""
1, abc , 2
 3, xxx, 4
"""

#print(type(data))
"""
<class 'str'>
"""

#np.genfromtxt(StringIO(data), delimiter=",", autostrip=True)
# TypeError: Can't convert 'bytes' object to str implicitly

print('\n')
print(np.genfromtxt(io.BytesIO(data.encode()), delimiter=",", dtype="|S3", autostrip=True))
"""
[[b'1' b'abc' b'2']
 [b'3' b'xxx' b'4']]
"""

print('\n')
print(np.genfromtxt(io.BytesIO(data.encode()), delimiter=",", autostrip=True))
"""
[[  1.  nan   2.]
 [  3.  nan   4.]]
"""

Aside:

dtype="|Sx", where x = any of { 1, 2, 3, ...}:

dtypes. Difference between S1 and S2 in Python

"The |S1 and |S2 strings are data type descriptors; the first means the array holds strings of length 1, the second of length 2. ..."

Solution 5

You can use the StringIO from the six module:

import six
import numpy

x = "1 3\n 4.5 8"
numpy.genfromtxt(six.StringIO(x))

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