AppleScript: Transforming a TXT file in a list

Question

I have a txt plain file that has a list of numbers. One number per line, like:

978-972-722-649-8
978-972-722-646-7
978-972-722-627-6
978-972-722-625-2
978-972-722-594-1

etc.

This list is on a file called file.txt, was created and saved on TextEdit using Western (ISO Latin 1) encoding.

Now I am trying to use Applescript to read this file and transform it on a list.

I have this script

set myDirectory to path to desktop folder as string
set myFile to myDirectory & "file.txt"

try
    set open_file to ¬
        open for access file myFile without write permission
    set myList to read open_file using delimiter return
    close access open_file
on error
    try
        close access file open_file
    end try
end try

after running this script, myList contains just ONE item and this item is "97" (I suppose that is the first two numbers of the first entry).

What is going on?

Thanks.

Answer 1

If you saved your file as Western (ISO Latin 1) most likely it has LF as a delimiter.

Try using the following line:

set myList to read open_file using delimiter "\n"

and see if it works for you.

I tried running your script on my laptop and it works fine with the above modifications.

Also, run the od command in the shell to see if the file is encoded right. Here is the output of my command:

vlad$ od -c file.txt 
0000000    9   7   8   -   9   7   2   -   7   2   2   -   6   4   9   -
0000020    8  \n   9   7   8   -   9   7   2   -   7   2   2   -   6   4
0000040    6   -   7  \n   9   7   8   -   9   7   2   -   7   2   2   -
0000060    6   2   7   -   6  \n   9   7   8   -   9   7   2   -   7   2
0000100    2   -   6   2   5   -   2  \n   9   7   8   -   9   7   2   -
0000120    7   2   2   -   5   9   4   -   1  \n                        
0000132

Answer 2

The read command's using delimiter(s) parameter is problematic. Use the following instead, which works with any linefeed character(s):

set myList to every paragraph of (read open_file)

Answer 3

It sounds like something weird is going on with the file, but have you tried another approach:

set myfilePPath to posix path of myFile
set myList to every paragraph of (do shell script("cat \"" & myfilePPath "\"))

The cat programme just types out the contents of the file. Even i it doesn't work, it might give you a clue to what's going on.