def xml_field(name, long_name, unit): field = ' \n' return field file = open ("fortran_input", "r") xml = [] lines = file.readlines() for line in lines: name, long_name, unit, data = line.split("(")[1].split(")")[0].split(",") print(name, long_name, unit, data) field = xml_field(name, long_name, unit) xml.append(field) with open("tmp_field_def_physics.xml", "w") as f: for field in xml: f.write(field)