How to read a .log file in Python

Question

Can you please help me with to code that I can use to read .Log file and then change '-' separated value to different column.

The Content in the file is:

Configured/Initialized - Corrected - 03/13/22 - 07:24:26 - Ack? No - Severity: Low
Battery - Triggered - 03/13/22 - 15:59:48 - Ack? No - Severity: Low
Tension Low- not allowed - Finalized - 03/13/22 - 16:22:25 - Ack? Yes - Severity: Low

Answer 1

Using the CSV reader works but, as @jonrshapre noted in the comments below your post, Tension Low- not allowed will not split things correctly. If the "Tension Low- ..." is correct, then you can use the re module where you split the line at " - ".

UPDATE: 04-12-2022 -- added code answering data frame question in the comments posted below.

UPDATE: 04-15-2022 -- add code to address new type of option in log file.

import re
import pandas as pd

with open("file.log", "r") as f:
    data = []
    lines = f.readlines()
    for line in lines:
        # use strip() to remove "\n" from end of line
        data.append(re.split(" - ",line.strip()))

for row in data:
    # Check lines to catch case where 1st col is split due the re.split().
    # All lines need 6 items so if 7 is found, row update needed.
    if len(row) == 7:
        row[0] = ' - '.join(row[0:2]) # update 1st item with re-joined text
        row.pop(1)  # delete 2nd item in list
    # For all rows, split last two items (Ack & Severity) in the
    # list and only store the 2nd part of the split
    row[4] = row[4].split()[1]
    row[5] = row[5].split()[1]

cols=['Type', 'Status', 'Date', 'Time', 'Ack', 'Severity']

# Create the pandas DataFrame
df = pd.DataFrame(data, columns = cols )
print(df)

The following is what `data' looks like after splitting the info from the log file:

['Configured/Initialized', 'Corrected', '03/13/22', '07:24:26', 'Ack? No', 'Severity: Low']
['Battery', 'Triggered', '03/13/22', '15:59:48', 'Ack? No', 'Severity: Low']
['Tension Low- not allowed', 'Finalized', '03/13/22', '16:22:25', 'Ack? Yes', 'Severity: Low']
['ABC Set - PQR motion', 'Triggered', '03/13/22', '07:07:28', 'No', 'Low']

The following is the data frame:

                       Type     Status      Date      Time  Ack Severity
0    Configured/Initialized  Corrected  03/13/22  07:24:26   No      Low
1                   Battery  Triggered  03/13/22  15:59:48   No      Low
2  Tension Low- not allowed  Finalized  03/13/22  16:22:25  Yes      Low
3      ABC Set - PQR motion  Triggered  03/13/22  07:07:28   No      Low

Answer 2

just use csv with custom delimiter

import csv
file_object = open("file.log", "w")
reader = csv.reader(file_object, delimiter = "-")
for row in reader:
    print row