Converting a supposed excel file in csv in python - excel

Question

I am having an issue trying to use a code for converting a file into csv.
I am using the code below as a start
directory = 'C:\OI Data'
filename = 'OpenInterest08-24-16'
data_xls = pd.read_excel(os.path.join(directory,filename), 'Sheet1', index_col=None)
data_xls.to_csv(os.path.join(directory,filename +'.csv'), encoding='utf-8')
and I am getting the following error:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "", line 1, in
File "C:\Anaconda2\lib\site-packages\spyderlib\widgets\externalshell\sitecustomize.py", line 714, in runfile
execfile(filename, namespace)
File "C:\Anaconda2\lib\site-packages\spyderlib\widgets\externalshell\sitecustomize.py", line 74, in execfile
exec(compile(scripttext, filename, 'exec'), glob, loc)
File "C:/Users/Public/Documents/Python Scripts/work.py", line 26, in
data_xls = pd.read_excel(os.path.join(directory,filename), 'Sheet1', index_col=None)
File "C:\Anaconda2\lib\site-packages\pandas\io\excel.py", line 170, in read_excel
io = ExcelFile(io, engine=engine)
File "C:\Anaconda2\lib\site-packages\pandas\io\excel.py", line 227, in init
self.book = xlrd.open_workbook(io)
File "C:\Anaconda2\lib\site-packages\xlrd__init__.py", line 441, in open_workbook
ragged_rows=ragged_rows,
File "C:\Anaconda2\lib\site-packages\xlrd\book.py", line 91, in open_workbook_xls
biff_version = bk.getbof(XL_WORKBOOK_GLOBALS)
File "C:\Anaconda2\lib\site-packages\xlrd\book.py", line 1230, in getbof
bof_error('Expected BOF record; found %r' % self.mem[savpos:savpos+8])
File "C:\Anaconda2\lib\site-packages\xlrd\book.py", line 1224, in bof_error
raise XLRDError('Unsupported format, or corrupt file: ' + msg)
xlrd.biffh.XLRDError: Unsupported format, or corrupt file: Expected BOF record; found '\n\n\n\n\n '
I am struggling to figure out the file format I am using
https://www.theice.com/marketdata/reports/icefuturesus/PreliminaryOpenInterest.shtml?futuresExcel=&tradeDate=8%2F24%2F16
opening the file myself I get the following
enter image description here
I am still a beginner at python and some help would be much appreciated.
Thanks

Answer 1

You can start by fixing this part:
data_xls.to_csv(os.path.join(directory,filename,'.csv'), encoding='utf-8')
What happens when you do that is:
'C:\OI Data\\OpenInterest08-24-16\\.csv'
Which is not what you want. Instead do:
os.path.join(directory,filename+'.csv')
Which will give you:
'C:\OI Data\\OpenInterest08-24-16.csv'
Also, this is not a problem here, but in general be careful with this because a single backslash and a character can indicate an escape sequence, e.g. \n is a newline:
directory = 'C:\OI Data'
Instead escape the backslash like so:
directory = 'C:\\OI Data'