How to read the first letter from the last line in a txt file in python

Question

Can someone please show me how I can read the first letter from the last line in a txt file in python. Sorry if the question is a little bit confusing this is my first question on stack overflow.

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MySlav · Accepted Answer · 2021-08-02T20:14:51.923

2

This is a solution, although maybe not the best since it is not memory efficient since it reads all the contents of a text file. Reverse reading is probably too complex for what you are asking for.

with open('text.txt', 'r') as f:
    print(list(f)[-1][0])

edited Aug 02 '21 at 20:14

answered Aug 02 '21 at 19:56

MySlav

151
5

1

Calling `readlines` is unnecessary, `list(f)` will return the lines as a list as well. – Einliterflasche Aug 02 '21 at 20:04
True, thanks for the suggestion, will edit the answer. – MySlav Aug 02 '21 at 20:14

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 02 '21 at 20:02

1

file_obj = open('myfile.txt')
the_text = file_obj.read()
*_, last_line = text.rsplit('\n', maxsplit=1)
first_char = last_line[0]

answered Aug 02 '21 at 20:02

medecau

85
2
10

Reading the whole file just to split it is unnecessary. Using`file.readlines()` or `list(file)` is much easier. – Einliterflasche Aug 02 '21 at 20:08
Both suggestions will create N lines where only one is needed. – medecau Aug 02 '21 at 20:34

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 02 '21 at 20:00

0

A simple solution to accessing the last line of a file, though takes O(n) time, is using a basic for loop:

file = open("script.txt", "r")
last = ""
for line in file:
  last = line
print(last[0])

answered Aug 02 '21 at 20:00

Ani M

1,868
1
2
13

2

I think using `file.readlines()[-1]` as @MySlav did, is preferable to looping over the entire file. – Manusman Aug 02 '21 at 20:03

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 02 '21 at 20:03

Small file solution. This opens the file, and iterates through lines until the file is completely iterated through.

with open('filename.txt') as f:
    for line in f:
        pass
    last_line_char = line[0]

Large file solution (also much faster). This takes advantage of the os.seek() module.

import os

with open('filename.txt', 'rb') as f:
    f.seek(-2, os.SEEK_END)
    while f.read(1) != b'\n':
        f.seek(-2, os.SEEK_CUR)
    last_line = f.readline().decode()
    last_line_char = last_line[0]

Code from here

How to read the first letter from the last line in a txt file in python

4 Answers4