import csv filename = 'ch02-data.tab' data = [] try: with open(filename) as f: reader = csv.reader(f, dialect=csv.excel_tab) c = 0 for row in reader: if c == 0: header = row else: data.append(row) c += 1 except csv.Error as e: print "Error reading CSV file at line %s: %s" % (reader.line_num, e) sys.exit(-1) if header: print header print '===================' for datarow in data: print datarow