How to search for a specific character in a file using Python?

Dr. Muniba Faiza
1 Min Read

In this article, a simple python script is provided that can be used to search for a specific character in a file.

If you have a file consisting of some information including name, address, email, post, and so on. You want to extract only email addresses present in that file, then use the following script/block of code. Here, this input file is named “employee_info.txt”.

#!/usr/bin/env python


value = ''
str = 'Email ID:'

file = open('employee_info.txt')

result = ''
for line in file:
			if '@' in line:				#looking for specific character
				value = line.splitlines()
				print ("Email ID:", value)
file.close()				

Save this script with .py extension. Suppose, save it as ‘script.py’. Open a terminal on Ubuntu or command prompt on Windows and type:

$ python script.py

If you want to redirect the output to a file, then type:

$ python script.py > output.txt
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Dr. Muniba is a Bioinformatician based in New Delhi, India. She has completed her PhD in Bioinformatics from South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China. She has cutting edge knowledge of bioinformatics tools, algorithms, and drug designing. When she is not reading she is found enjoying with the family. Know more about Muniba
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