Example of script to make a csvkit fixed width schema from IL Board of Ed School Report Card file layouts

schema_maker.py

#!/usr/bin/env python
import sys
import csv
input_file = sys.argv[1]
r = csv.reader(open(input_file))
w = csv.writer(sys.stdout)
w.writerow(['column','start','length'])

for row in r:
    try:
        if row[0].isdigit():
            col = row[5].strip()
            col_plus = filter(None,map(str.strip,row[1:3]))
            if col_plus:
                col = "%s (%s)" % (col,','.join(col_plus))
            start = int(row[7])
            length = int(row[8]) - start
            w.writerow([col,start,length])
    except Exception,e:
        sys.stderr.write("%s\n" % e)