Add header to csv file

[jaykapalczynski]

I am creating a csv file via the SearchCursor.  This Works great....although I am not getting the field names in there.  I went about this 2 ways.  I have tried a ton of forums but just cant seem to get the right syntax to create this ONLY once and when I bring it into Excel it has a header for each field.

Any thoughts?

I add the headers IN the "for row in cursor"

This adds them BUT it creates a set of headers for each record imported

with arcpy.da.SearchCursor(fc, [var_region_1 ,var_county_1,var_ramp_1], where_clause=expression) as cursor:
   for row in cursor:
       zval = str('{0},{1},{2}'.format(row[0],row[1],row[2]))
       headers = ['region_1','county_1','ramp_1']
       outFile.write('\t'.join(headers) + '\n')        
       outFile.write(zval + "%s\n")

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Add headers BEFORE the "for row in cursor"

This adds them but when I bring into excel they are all crammed into the first box, not spread out for each field.

headers = ['region_1','county_1','ramp_1']
outFile.write('\t'.join(headers) + '\n')

with arcpy.da.SearchCursor(fc, [var_region_1 ,var_county_1,var_ramp_1], where_clause=expression) as cursor:
   for row in cursor:
      zval = str('{0},{1},{2}'.format(row[0],row[1],row[2]))
      outFile.write(zval + "%s\n")

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[JoshuaBixby]

You are creating a CSV, which is comma delimited, but you are inserting tabs between your headers, so they are all getting treated as a header for a single field/column.

[jaykapalczynski]

I got it...answered my own question!  Just added , inside the quotes.

headers = ['region_1,','county_1,','ramp_1,']‍

[jaykapalczynski]

I have one last issue.  I have many many fields...when I write the header in it writes to the second line when I bring the csv into excel.

BUT the data that I am writing to the same csv file does not.  The individual records are all on the same line.

Why is this?  Can I specify to not return to the 2nd line ?

[JoshuaBixby]

Although that works, it isn't very Pythonic.  Your original code can be modified slightly to make it work with existing header format:

outFile.write(','.join(headers) + '\n')‍

[jaykapalczynski]

I changed to that...but when using the below it writes header values to the 1st and 2nd line.

NOTE: I have 78 fields.  The header line below is just showing 3.  Might be hitting a limit in Excel from a CSV file?

headers = ["region_1,county_1,ramp_1,date,"]

[JoshuaBixby]

What does this produce, using either 3 or 78? (Note, commas outside of strings)

headers = ['region_1', 'county_1', 'ramp_1']
outFile.write(','.join(headers) + '\n')‍‍

[jaykapalczynski]

When i use 3 it places them in the correct location.

When I use all 78 it gets to a point it cuts off the text between the ' '  

It then throws the rest of what go cut off to the next line and then all the others that follow are placed in the proper locations albeit in the 2nd row.

It appears that I am hitting some sort of character limit in the CSV as it returns to the next line for the header....too many characters?

See attached csv and excel file outputs.

[jaykapalczynski]

I think I am running into this issue....researching now...

Maximum length of CSV file 

[JoshuaBixby]

When I open the CSV, everything looks fine.  When I open the CSV directly in Excel, it displays fine.  When I open your XLS, I see your issue.  What version of Excel are you using?  I am looking at the CSV using Excel 2013?