Read CSV data as Input either using STDIN or as Command Line Argument using Python

read_args.py

import sys
import csv

try:
    if (sys.argv[1] == '-'):
        f = sys.stdin.read().splitlines()
    else:
        filename = sys.argv[1]
        f = open(filename, 'r')
    csv = csv.reader(f)
    data = list(csv)
    for row in data:
        print row
except Exception, e:
    print "Error Reading from file:"

test.csv

usage.md

Usage

python read_args.py test.csv

cat test.csv | python read_args.py -

python read_args.py -

Output

['abc', 'efg', 'hij']
['klm', 'nop', 'qrs']
['tuv', 'wxy', 'zab']