Hi I am trying to read data from a file that has format
item_name num_items item_type items .... eg TIME 1 0.0 DISTANCE 10 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 TIME 1 1.0 DISTANCE 10 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 10.0 I can read this if the data are in ASCII format using in_file = open("my_file.dat","r") data1 = in_file.read() tokens = data1.split() and then stepping through the resulting list but the data also appear in the same format in a binary file. I tried converting the binary file to an ASCII file using ifile = open("my_file.dat","rb") ofile = open("new_file.dat","w") base64.decode(ifile, ofile) but that gave the error "Error: Incorrect padding". I imagine that there is a straightforward way of doing this but haven't found it so far. Would be grateful for any suggestions! Thanks Alun Griffiths ------------------------------------------------- Visit Pipex Business: The homepage for UK Small Businesses Go to http://www.pipex.co.uk/business-services _______________________________________________ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor