Hi all, I'm looking for a way to read data from ascii text files quickly. I've found that using the standard python idioms like: data = array((M,N),Float) for in range(N): data.append(map(float,file.readline().split())) Can be pretty slow. What I'd like is something like Matlab's fscanf: data = fscanf(file, "%g", [M,N] ) I may have the syntax a little wrong, but the gist is there. What Matlab does keep recycling the format string until the desired number of elements have been read. It is quite flexible, and ends up being pretty fast. Has anyone written something like this for Numeric (or numarray, but I'd prefer Numeric at this point) ? I was surprised not to find something like this in SciPy, maybe I didn't look hard enough. If no one has done this, I guess I'll get started on it.... -Chris -- Christopher Barker, Ph.D. Oceanographer NOAA/OR&R/HAZMAT (206) 526-6959 voice 7600 Sand Point Way NE (206) 526-6329 fax Seattle, WA 98115 (206) 526-6317 main reception Chris.Barker@noaa.gov