Possible Duplicate:
Python: Split string with multiple delimiters
Can I do something similar in Python?
Split method in VB.net:
Dim line As String = "Tech ID: xxxxxxxxxx Name: DOE, JOHN Account #: xxxxxxxx"
Dim separators() As String = {"Tech ID:", "Name:", "Account #:"}
Dim result() As String
result = line.Split(separators, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries)
Given a bad data format like this, you could try re.split():
>>> import re
>>> mystring = "Field 1: Data 1 Field 2: Data 2 Field 3: Data 3"
>>> a = re.split(r"(Field 1:|Field 2:|Field 3:)",mystring)
['', 'Field 1:', ' Data 1 ', 'Field 2:', ' Data 2 ', 'Field 3:', ' Data 3']
Your job would be much easier if the data was sanely formatted, with quoted strings and comma-separated records. This would admit the use of the csv module for parsing of comma-separated value files.
Edit:
You can filter out the blank entries with a list comprehension.
>>> a_non_empty = [s for s in a if s]
>>> a_non_empty
['Field 1:', ' Data 1 ', 'Field 2:', ' Data 2 ', 'Field 3:', ' Data 3']
>>> import re
>>> str = "Tech ID: xxxxxxxxxx Name: DOE, JOHN Account #: xxxxxxxx"
>>> re.split("Tech ID:|Name:|Account #:",str)
['', ' xxxxxxxxxx ', ' DOE, JOHN ', ' xxxxxxxx']
split tokens themselves not appear in your output? Python 2 vs. Python 3 difference?
(...) as a result they did not get captured.
str since it is the name of a builtinI would suggest a different approach:
>>> import re
>>> subject = "Tech ID: xxxxxxxxxx Name: DOE, JOHN Account #: xxxxxxxx"
>>> regex = re.compile(r"(Tech ID|Name|Account #):\s*(.*?)\s*(?=Tech ID:|Name:|Account #:|$)")
>>> dict(regex.findall(subject))
{'Tech ID': 'xxxxxxxxxx', 'Name': 'DOE, JOHN', 'Account #': 'xxxxxxxx'}
That way you get a useful data structure for this kind of data: a dictionary.
As a commented regex:
regex = re.compile(
r"""(?x) # Verbose regex:
(Tech\ ID|Name|Account\ \#) # Match identifier
: # Match a colon
\s* # Match optional whitespace
(.*?) # Match any number of characters, as few as possible
\s* # Match optional whitespace
(?= # Assert that the following can be matched:
Tech\ ID:|Name:|Account\ \#: # The next identifier
|$ # or the end of the string
) # End of lookahead assertion""")
