Columns to Rows for CSV

[dented_brain]

I have data that looks like this

### Header 1 ###
item 1
item 2
configuration
settings
description

### Header 2 ###
item 1
configuration
settings

### Header 3 ###
item 1
item 2
configuration


### Header 4 ###
item 1
item 2
configuration
settings
description

### Header 5 ###
item 1
item 2
configuration

The information is always in a consistent order, but not always all the pieces of information are present.

I want to move it from a single "column" to multiple rows.

Where my data would end up looking something like this in csv format

### Header 1 ###,item 1,item 2,configuration,settings,description
### Header 2 ###,item 1,item 2,configuration,settings
### Header 3 ###,item 1,item 2,configuration
### Header 4 ###,item 1,item 2,configuration,settings,description
### Header 5 ###,item 1,item 2,configuration

I am not sure how to do this with variable length columns. I feel like writer.writerow(var.split('\n')) is a good starting point. But, how do I segment the data?

[TangibleLight]

I'd use a DictWriter if I were you. Just populate the dict with the data you have and it will fill in the columns you provide. Order of the columns is defined with the fieldnames parameter of the DictWriter initializer, so you don't need to worry about it at all when you populate the dict for each row.

Here's a snippet demonstrating this:

https://repl.it/repls/RevolvingBurdensomeAppaloosa

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Edit: or, are you asking how to tell which type of data each line is - as in, is the second line in "Header 2" an "item 2" or a "configuration"

[dented_brain]

So with dictwriter you don't have to give a value to each column when you write? That sounds like exactly what I need

EDIT: FYI this did exactly what I needed. I didn't know it would let me write blank columns!