import sys import re regex = re.compile(r"^0+", re.IGNORECASE) with open(sys.argv[1], encoding="utf8") as fin: line="foo" while line: line = fin.readline() if line and line[:1]!=";": # remove comments line=line.rstrip() # remove CR f = filter(None, line.split(' ')) # suppress empty fields elements=list(f) id=elements[3] id = regex.sub("", id) # remove leading "0"s time=float(elements[1]) / 1000 print(f"({time:0.6f}) can0 {id}#{''.join(elements[5:])}")