import csv
monthDict = {'jan':'01', 'feb':'02', 'mar':'03', 'apr':'04', 'may':'05', 'jun':'06', 'jul':'07', 'aug':'08', 'sep':'09', 'oct':'10', 'nov':'11', 'dec':'12'}

def convertTapeCode(tape):
    # has problems when the day doesn't have two digits
    year = tape[7:11]
    monthAbbrev = tape[0:3]
    monthNumber = monthDict[monthAbbrev.lower()]
    day = tape[4:6]
    network = tape[12:15]
    outData = year + monthNumber + day + network
    return outData

def convertBySplit(tape):
    list = tape.split(' ') # split the date string up at its spaces
    year = list[2]
    monthAbbrev = list[0]
    monthNumber = monthDict[monthAbbrev.lower()]
    day = list[1]
    if len(day) == 1:
        day = '0' + day
    network = list[3]
    outData = year + monthNumber + day + network
    return outData

tapeList = ['Sep 4 1975 ABC', 'Apr 3 1980 CBS', 'Aug 14 1992 CNN']

dataBase = []
dataBase.append(['tape code','data code'])
for tape in tapeList:
    answer = convertBySplit(tape)
    list = [tape, answer]
    dataBase.append(list)

fileObject = open('test.csv', 'w', newline='', encoding='utf-8')
writerObject = csv.writer(fileObject)
for row in dataBase:
    print(row)
    writerObject.writerow(row)
fileObject.close()

print(dataBase)