geometry - Creating Polyline shapefile from text file using ArcPy?

I'm trying to create a polyline shapefile from a text file which provides Name, coordX, coordY. I've created the following script, which I feel will work. However, I can't seem to get it to read the text file properly. I am getting the following error, RuntimeError: Object: CreateObject cannot create geometry from inputs.

import arcpy

arcpy.env.workspace = "C:\\Data"

outFolder = "C:\\Data"
fc = "Paths.shp"


spatRef = arcpy.SpatialReference(26913)
arcpy.CreateFeatureclass_management(outFolder, fc, "POLYLINE", "", "", "", spatRef)

coordinateList = open("C:\\Data\\Paths.txt")

for line in coordinateList.readlines():
    print line

pointList = arcpy.Array()


for x, y in coordinateList:
    point = arcpy.Point(x,y)
    pointList.add(point)

polyline = arcpy.Polyline(pointList)

cursor = arcpy.da.InsertCursor(fc, "SHAPE@")
cursor.insertRow([polyline])

del cursor

Answer

This is the simplest edit to make your code work:

import arcpy

arcpy.env.workspace = "C:\\Data"
outFolder = "C:\\Data"
fc = "Paths.shp"

spatRef = arcpy.SpatialReference(26913)
arcpy.CreateFeatureclass_management(outFolder, fc, "POLYLINE", "", "", "", spatRef)


coordinateList = open("C:\\Data\\Paths.txt")

pointList = arcpy.Array()
for line in coordinateList.readlines():
    print line

    SplitLine = line.split(',') # break up the string into elements
    # 'FredRanch1_1, 529018.125025, 4108038.05548' becomes
    # ['FredRanch1_1', '529018.125025', '4108038.05548'] which can be indexed

    x = float(SplitLine[1]) # turn the strings into numbers
    y = float(SplitLine[2])

    point = arcpy.Point(x,y)
    pointList.add(point)

polyline = arcpy.Polyline(pointList)

cursor = arcpy.da.InsertCursor(fc, "SHAPE@")
cursor.insertRow(polyline)


del cursor
coordinateList.close() # don't forget to close your file

Using with statements condenses the code and ensures you don't forget to free the cursor and close the file:

import arcpy

arcpy.env.workspace = "C:\\Data"
outFolder = "C:\\Data"
fc = "Paths.shp"


spatRef = arcpy.SpatialReference(26913)
arcpy.CreateFeatureclass_management(outFolder, fc, "POLYLINE", "", "", "", spatRef)

with open("C:\\Data\\Paths.txt",'r') as coordinateList:
    with arcpy.da.InsertCursor(fc,'SHAPE@') as cursor:
        pointList = arcpy.Array()
        for line in coordinateList:
            SplitLine = line.split(',') # break up the string into elements
            # 'FredRanch1_1, 529018.125025, 4108038.05548' becomes

            # [FredRanch1_1, 529018.125025, 4108038.05548] which can be indexed
            x = float(SplitLine[1])
            y = float(SplitLine[2])

            point = arcpy.Point(x,y)
            pointList.add(point)
    cursor.insertRow(polyline)

With the added complication of starting a new line when the name changes:

import arcpy


arcpy.env.workspace = "C:\\Data"
outFolder = "C:\\Data"
fc = "Paths.shp"

spatRef = arcpy.SpatialReference(26913)
arcpy.CreateFeatureclass_management(outFolder, fc, "POLYLINE", "", "", "", spatRef)
arcpy.AddField_management(fc,'Name','TEXT',field_length=250)

oldName = None

pointList = arcpy.Array()
with open("C:\\Data\\Paths.txt",'r') as coordinateList:
    with arcpy.da.InsertCursor(fc,['SHAPE@','Name']) as cursor:
        for line in coordinateList:
            SplitLine = line.split(',') # break up the string into elements
            # 'FredRanch1_1, 529018.125025, 4108038.05548' becomes
            # ['FredRanch1_1', '529018.125025', '4108038.05548'] which can be indexed
            if oldName == None:
                oldName = SplitLine[0] # only should happen on the first iteration


            x = float(SplitLine[1]) # turn the strings into numbers
            y = float(SplitLine[2])

            if oldName.upper() != SplitLine[0].upper():
                # the name has changed!
                polyline = arcpy.Polyline(pointList)
                cursor.insertRow([polyline,oldName]) # insert this line on name change
                pointList = arcpy.Array()            # reset the array
                oldName = SplitLine[0]               # make this name the old name


            point = arcpy.Point(x,y)
            pointList.add(point)
    polyline = arcpy.Polyline(pointList)
    cursor.insertRow([polyline,oldName]) # clean up the last line

Caveat I have not tested this code, it's from a copy of some of my existing code to do a similar purpose... I may have deleted a necessary line or neglected to change a variable name.