how to create a list from a string in python 3?

Question

So I am trying to turn a string with multiple separators into a list, but dictated by where the separators are:

ex: ("Hooray! Finally, we're done.", "!,") to be converted to: ['Hooray', ' Finally', " we're done."] based upon the separators given.

As you can see, the string is split into a list based on the separators. My closest attempt:

 for ch in separators:
    original = ' '.join(original.split(ch))
return(original.split())

when I do this I get the result:

['Hooray', 'Finally', "we're", 'done.']

but I need to have " we're done" as one element of the list, not separated.

I got a suggestion to use a string accumulator, but I don't see how it helps to solve the issue

Thanks

anon582847382 · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-09 21:23:10Z

2

Just do this, using re.split:

>>> import re
>>> original = "Hooray! Finally, we're done."
>>> re.split('!|,', start)
['Hooray', ' Finally', " we're done."]

EDIT: Without regular expressions, you need a custom function such as:

def multisplit(s, delims):
    pos = 0
    for i, c in enumerate(s):
        if c in delims:
            yield s[pos:i]
            pos = i + 1
    yield list(s[pos:])

And then use it as so:

>>> original = "Hooray! Finally, we're done."
>>> multisplit(original, '!,')
['Hooray', ' Finally', " we're done."]

edited Mar 9, 2014 at 21:23

answered Mar 9, 2014 at 20:39

anon582847382

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2 Comments

user3394677 Over a year ago

Thanks for the response, but I don't think I am allowed to use the re.split method. We haven't learned it in class yet so I think I am stuck only able to go about it the long way using a for loop and some sort of accumulator.

anon582847382 Over a year ago

@user3394677 See edits above. If I have been useful to you, kindly accept my answer.

anon582847382 · Accepted Answer · 2014-11-01 18:43:02Z

1

You can use re.split with an appropriate expression:

>>> data=("Hooray! Finally, we're done.", "!,")
>>> re.split("[%s]" % re.escape(data[1]), data[0])
['Hooray', ' Finally', " we're done."]

Splits the first element of the tuple by every character in the tuples second element.

The regex is made out of the tuple's second string where all regex special charcters are properly escaped. [some chars] means that every character inside the Square Brackets will be a seperator.

edited Nov 1, 2014 at 18:43

anon582847382

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answered Mar 9, 2014 at 20:37

halex

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1 Comment

user3394677 Over a year ago

Thanks for the response, but I don't think I am allowed to use the re.split method. We haven't learned it in class yet so I think I am stuck only able to go about it the long way using a for loop and some sort of accumulator.

Javier · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-09 21:15:53Z

0

A simple solutoin without regular expressions could be:

def split_on_separators(word, separators):
    word_list = [word]
    auxList = []
    for sep in separators:
        for w in word_list:
            auxList.extend(w.split(sep))
        word_list = auxList
        auxList = list()
    return word_list

example = "Hooray! Finally, we're done."
separators = '!,'

split_on_separators(example, separators)

Out[49]: ['Hooray', ' Finally', " we're done."]

answered Mar 9, 2014 at 21:15

Javier

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Comments

TessellatingHeckler · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-09 21:35:00Z

0

Change the string so all the separators are the same, then split on that one:

def separate(words, separators):
    sep0 = separators[0]
    for sep in separators[1:]:
        words = words.replace(sep, sep0)

    return words.split(sep0)

answered Mar 9, 2014 at 21:35

TessellatingHeckler

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