title: error in using the genfromtxt() function in python/numpy
body: <p>I am relatively new to python and I was trying to use the genfromtext() function.<br>
  I am reading data from a csv file converting it to an array in numpy and reading specific columns  from the array that I want to use.  The array has a row of headings which I do not need. One of the columns in the array is a string of characters and the rest are integers.  I would like to isloate the string and the one column of integers.  Here is what I have tried so far.</p>
  
  <pre><code>import csv 
  import os 
  import numpy as np 
  import matplotlib.pyplot as plt 
  
  csv_to_array2 = np.genfromtxt('test.csv',    
  delimiter = ',' , dtype = "S5, S5, S5, S5, S5, S5" ) 
  
  numrows2 = len(csv_to_array2)
  numcols2 = len((csv_to_array2).T)
  print(numrows2)
  print(numcols2) 
  
  
  head_and_data2 = np.vsplit(csv_to_array2, np.array([1]) ) 
  
  data2 = head_and_data2[1]
  data_split2 = np.hsplit(data2, np.array([1,2]))
  print(data2)
  
  col_title= data_split2[0]
  y = data_split2[1]
  print(col_title) 
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>my test file is the following </p>
  
  <pre><code>  ,n1,n2,n3,n4,n5
    p1,1,2,3,4,5
    p2,6,7,8,9,10
    p3,11,12,13,14,15
    p4,16,18,18,19,20
    p5,21,22,23,24,25 
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>When I run the program the output is the following </p>
  
  <pre><code>[(b'', b'n1', b'n2', b'n3', b'n4', b'n5')
   (b'p1', b'1', b'2', b'3', b'4', b'5')
   (b'p2', b'6', b'7', b'8', b'9', b'10')
   (b'p3', b'11', b'12', b'13', b'14', b'15')
   (b'p4', b'16', b'18', b'18', b'19', b'20')
   (b'p5', b'21', b'22', b'23', b'24', b'25')]
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Traceback (most recent call last):</p>
  
  <pre><code>  File "/home/shubha/workspace/Raj_Data/Test_part.py", line 24, in &lt;module&gt;
      head_and_data2 = np.vsplit(csv_to_array2, np.array([1]) ) 
    File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/numpy/lib/shape_base.py", line 590, in vsplit
      raise ValueError('vsplit only works on arrays of 2 or more dimensions')
  ValueError: vsplit only works on arrays of 2 or more dimensions
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>When I change the <code>dtype= None</code>  I get the correct columns, but with the 'b' appended before each entry.  So for the second column first row(after the heading has been removed) I get b'1' etc.  When I remove the dtype, it gives me an error that it cannot read the first column, each entry is a 'nan'</p>
  
  <p>I would appreciate any help that you can give me. Thank you.  </p>