title: Parsing a text file into a list in python
body: <p>I'm completely new to Python, and I'm trying to read in a txt file that contains a combination of words and numbers. I can read in the txt file just fine, but I'm struggling to get the string into a format I can work with. </p>
  
  <pre><code>import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
  import numpy as np
  from numpy import loadtxt
  
  f= open("/Users/Jennifer/Desktop/test.txt", "r")
  
  lines=f.readlines()
  
  Data = []
  
  list=lines[3]
  i=4
  while i&lt;12:
          list=list.append(line[i])
          i=i+1
  
  print list
  
  f.close()
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I want a list that contains all the elements in lines 3-12 (starting from 0), which is all numbers. When I do print lines[1], I get the data from that line. When I do print lines, or print lines[3:12], I get each character preceded by \x00. For example, the word "Plate" becomes: ['\x00P\x00l\x00a\x00t\x00e. Using   lines = [line.strip() for line in f] gets the same result. When I try to put individual lines together in the while loop above, I get the error "AttributeError: 'str' object has no attribute 'append'."</p>
  
  <p>How can I get a selection of lines from a txt file into a list? Thank you so much!!!</p>
  
  <p><strong>Edit: The txt file looks like this:</strong></p>
  
  <p>BLOCKS= 1
  Plate:  Phosphate Noisiness Assay 2000x 1.3 PlateFormat Endpoint    Absorbance  Raw FALSE   1                       1   650     1   12  96  1   8<br>
      Temperature(¡C) 1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10  11  12<br>
      21.4    0.4977  0.5074  0.5183  0.5128  0.5021  0.5114  0.4993  0.5308  0.4837  0.5286  0.5231  0.5227<br>
          0.488   0.4742  0.5011  0.4868  0.4976  0.4845  0.4848  0.5179  0.4772  0.5363  0.5109  0.5197<br>
          0.4882  0.4913  0.4941  0.5188  0.4766  0.4914  0.495   0.5172  0.4826  0.5039  0.504   0.5451<br>
          0.4771  0.4875  0.523   0.4851  0.4757  0.4767  0.4918  0.5212  0.4742  0.5153  0.5027  0.5235<br>
          0.4474  0.4841  0.5193  0.4755  0.4649  0.4883  0.5165  0.5223  0.4799  0.5269  0.5091  0.5191<br>
          0.4721  0.4794  0.501   0.4467  0.4785  0.4792  0.4894  0.511   0.4778  0.5223  0.4888  0.5273<br>
          0.4122  0.4454  0.314   0.2747  0.4621  0.4416  0.3716  0.2534  0.4497  0.5778  0.2319  0.1038<br>
          0.4479  0.5368  0.3046  0.3115  0.4745  0.5116  0.3689  0.3915  0.4803  0.5209  0.1981  0.1062      </p>
  
  <p>~End
  Original Filename: 2013-08-06 Phosphate Noisiness; Date Last Saved: 8/6/2013 7:00:55 PM</p>
  
  <p><strong>Update</strong>
  I used this code:</p>
  
  <pre><code>f= open("/Users/Jennifer/Desktop/test.txt", "r")
  file_list = f.readlines()
  
  first_twelve = file_list[3:11]
  
  data = [x.replace('\t',' ') for x in first_twelve]
  data = [x.replace('\x00','') for x in data]
  data = [x.replace(' \r\n','') for x in data]
  
  print data
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>to get this result:
  [' 21.4 0.4977 0.5074 0.5183 0.5128 0.5021 0.5114 0.4993 0.5308 0.4837 0.5286 0.5231 0.5227 ', '  0.488 0.4742 0.5011 0.4868 0.4976 0.4845 0.4848 0.5179 0.4772 0.5363 0.5109 0.5197 ', '  0.4882 0.4913 0.4941 0.5188 0.4766 0.4914 0.495 0.5172 0.4826 0.5039 0.504 0.5451 ', '  0.4771 0.4875 0.523 0.4851 0.4757 0.4767 0.4918 0.5212 0.4742 0.5153 0.5027 0.5235 ', '  0.4474 0.4841 0.5193 0.4755 0.4649 0.4883 0.5165 0.5223 0.4799 0.5269 0.5091 0.5191 ', '  0.4721 0.4794 0.501 0.4467 0.4785 0.4792 0.4894 0.511 0.4778 0.5223 0.4888 0.5273 ', '  0.4122 0.4454 0.314 0.2747 0.4621 0.4416 0.3716 0.2534 0.4497 0.5778 0.2319 0.1038 ', '  0.4479 0.5368 0.3046 0.3115 0.4745 0.5116 0.3689 0.3915 0.4803 0.5209 0.1981 0.1062 ']</p>
  
  <p>Which is (correct me if I'm wrong, very new to Python!) a list of lists, which I should be able to work with. Thank you so much to everyone who responded!!!</p>