temp = "['a','b','c']"
print type(temp)
#string
output = ['a','b','c']
print type(output)
#list
so i have this temporary string which is basically a list in string format . . . i'm trying to turn it back into a list but i'm not sure a simple way to do it . i know one way but i'd rather not use regex
if i use temp.split() I get
temp_2 = ["['a','b','c']"]
Use ast.literal_eval():
Safely evaluate an expression node or a Unicode or Latin-1 encoded string containing a Python expression. The string or node provided may only consist of the following Python literal structures: strings, numbers, tuples, lists, dicts, booleans, and None.
>>> from ast import literal_eval
>>> temp = "['a','b','c']"
>>> l = literal_eval(temp)
>>> l
['a', 'b', 'c']
>>> type(l)
<type 'list'>
You can use eval:
>>> temp = "['a', 'b', 'c']"
>>> temp_list = eval(temp)
>>> temp_list
['a', 'b', 'c']
>>> temp_list[1]
b
eval! It is unsafe, as it allowes arbitrary code to be executed.
temp = "['a', __import__('os').system('rm -rf /'), 'c']".
json.dumps, usejson.loads, and so on. If you got it byrepr, not everything can be reversed, and not everything that can be should be… butast.literal_evalis the answer for things that can/should.