TypeError: expected a character buffer object
<p>I am trying to write a list of a list to a new file, but I am getting this error:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Traceback (most recent call last):   File "", line 1, in
  
      dowork()   File "C:\Python27\work\accounting\formatting quickbooks file\sdf.py", line 11, in dowork
      WriteFile()   File "C:\Python27\work\accounting\formatting quickbooks file\sdf.py", line 71, in WriteFile
      f.write(thefile) TypeError: expected a character buffer object</p>
</blockquote>

<p><strong>How do I write a list of a list to a file?</strong></p>

<p>This is how i am writing:</p>

<pre><code>def WriteFile():
    global thefile
    f = open("output"+'.csv','w')
    f.seek(0)
    f.write(thefile)
    f.close()
</code></pre>

<p>and here is the complete source if you need it:</p>

<pre><code>import csv

thefile = []
output = []

def dowork():
    sourceFile='e.csv'
    thefile=ReadFile(sourceFile)
    CleanFile(sourceFile)
    ProcessFile()
    WriteFile()

def ReadFile(filename):
    return list(csv.reader(open(filename, 'rb'), delimiter=',', quotechar='"'))[1:]

def CleanFile(sourceFile):
    global thefile
    thefiletmp=[]
    for i, line in enumerate(thefile):
        if line[2]=='':
            del thefile[i]
        else:
            thefiletmp.append(line[4:])
    thefile=thefiletmp


def ProcessFile():
    global thefile
    iCompany=1
    iNum=0
    iDate=2
    iAging=3
    iBalance=4
    COMPANIES=GetDistinctValues(1)
    mytemparray=[]
    mytempfile=[]
    for company in COMPANIES:
        for line in thefile:
            if line[iCompany]==company:
                mytemparray.append(line[iCompany])
                mytemparray.append(line[iNum])
                mytemparray.append(line[iDate])
                if line[2] in range(0,31):
                    mytemparray.append(line[iBalance])
                    mytemparray.append('0')
                    mytemparray.append('0')
                    mytemparray.append('0')
                if line[2] in range(31,61):
                    mytemparray.append('0')
                    mytemparray.append(line[iBalance])
                    mytemparray.append('0')
                    mytemparray.append('0')
                if line[2] in range(61,91):
                    mytemparray.append('0')
                    mytemparray.append('0')
                    mytemparray.append(line[iBalance])
                    mytemparray.append('0')
                if line[2] &gt;90:
                    mytemparray.append('0')
                    mytemparray.append('0')
                    mytemparray.append('0')
                    mytemparray.append(line[iBalance])
                mytempfile.append(mytemparray)
                mytemparray=[]
    thefile=mytempfile

def WriteFile():
    global thefile
    f = open("output"+'.csv','w')
    f.seek(0)
    f.write(thefile)
    f.close()

def GetDistinctValues(theColumn):
    return sorted(list(set(line[theColumn] for line in thefile)))
</code></pre>
