code: def read_input(self, filename, has_header=True):
          
          stream = open(filename)
          reader = csv.reader(stream)
          csv_data = []
          for (i, row) in enumerate(reader):
              if i==0:
                  if not has_header:
                      csv_data.append([str(i) for i in xrange(0,len(row))])
              csv_data.append(row)
          self.data = csv_data
docs: filename is any filename, or something on which open() can be called
          for example:
          csv_input = CSVInput()
          csv_input.read_input("csvfile.csv")