How to Efficiently Find Partial String Matches in CSV Rows Using Python for Loops

Discover a simple solution to extract rows from a CSV that contain partial string matches from a given list of names using Python's `for` loops!
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Finding Partial String Matches in CSV Rows with Python

If you're working with CSV data in Python and need to filter rows based on partial string matches from a list, you might find it challenging. This post walks you through a straightforward approach to solve this problem effectively. Whether you're a novice or have some experience with Python, you'll learn how to iterate through each row of a CSV and filter results into separate lists based on names.

Understanding the Problem

Let's break down the task at hand. You have a list of names and a CSV (in the form of a nested list) that contains various strings. Your goal is to:

Iterate through each name in the nameList.

Check every row in the aggregatedCSV to see if any part of the name appears within the row.

If a match is found, you want to store the complete row in a new list that corresponds to that name.

For example, if you have a nameList of ['Jon', 'Bob', 'Tim'] and an aggregatedCSV containing various entries, you might wish to create separate lists:

JonList will store all rows matching "Jon"

BobList for "Bob"

TimList for "Tim"

But how can you efficiently achieve this?

The Solution: Using a Dictionary for Storage

A commendable approach involves using a dictionary, which allows us to manage the results without having to know in advance how many names we will be dealing with. Here's how to do that:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

How the Code Works

Imports: We import defaultdict from the collections module, which will automatically create lists as values for our dictionary keys.

Data Setup: We set up our nameList and the aggregatedCSV that contains our data.

Iterate:

For each name in the nameList, we loop through each row in aggregatedCSV.

We then check each item in the row to see if the name appears within it.

If a match is found, the entire row is appended to the list corresponding to that name in our nameSpecificData dictionary.

This results in a structured dictionary where all matched rows are stored:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Creating Separate Lists for Each Name

If you prefer to have separate lists instead of a dictionary, you can do so by dynamically creating variable names. Here's a simple way to achieve that:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Summary of Output

Executing the code above will yield the following results for individual name lists:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Conclusion

In this post, we’ve explored how to effectively iterate through CSV rows to find partial string matches using Python's simple for loops. By utilizing a dictionary or dynamically creating variable names, you can easily manage CSV data based on your requirements. Keep experimenting, and happy coding!