How can I format a string with a string

Question

Suppose I have a list of data

data= ['Mom','Dad',1,'Dog','World']

I want to format another string with these strings, but I want the formatting to be so that if the element in data is a string then it should be surrounded by quotes. I could use flow control, but would rather just use string formatting instead.

For instance, the desired output would be something like

You are my 'Mom'
You are my 'Dad'
You are my 1 #Notice that the 1 is an int and is not surrounded by quotes
You are my 'Dog'
You are my 'World'

Is there a way to format that?

Do you know how to iterate the data? Do you know how to check what data type a value is? — takendarkk
– takendarkk, Commented Dec 19, 2016 at 19:00
@takendarkk yes and yes, but flow control is not what I want to do. I am curious if I can accomplish it with formatting — Demetri Pananos
– Demetri Pananos, Commented Dec 19, 2016 at 19:03

mgilson · Accepted Answer · 2016-12-19 19:02:48Z

3

You can use the !r format conversion specifier:

>>> data= ['Mom','Dad',1,'Dog','World']
>>> for item in data:
...     print('you are my {!r}'.format(item))
... 
you are my 'Mom'
you are my 'Dad'
you are my 1
you are my 'Dog'
you are my 'World'

This formats using __repr__ rather than __str__ (which is the default). Since str.__repr__ adds the quotes, it works out how you expect.

edited Dec 19, 2016 at 19:02

answered Dec 19, 2016 at 19:01

mgilson

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OneCricketeer · Accepted Answer · 2016-12-19 19:05:16Z

0

Though more verbose, a simple if statement should work

data= ['Mom','Dad',1,'Dog','World']

for d in data:
    print("You are my {}".format("'{}'".format(d) if isinstance(d, str) else d))

Output

You are my 'Mom'
You are my 'Dad'
You are my 1
You are my 'Dog'
You are my 'World'

answered Dec 19, 2016 at 19:05

OneCricketeer

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1 Comment

Demetri Pananos Over a year ago

I thought of this too, but wanted to avoid if-else statements because of the verbosity. Thanks

Dimitris Fasarakis Hilliard · Accepted Answer · 2016-12-19 19:15:53Z

0

An alternate approach just to make up for my previous misinterpretation of the question (really is just a variation of @mgilsons approach):

fmt = "You are my {!r}"
print(*map(fmt.format, data), sep='\n')

which prints out the wanted result.

edited Dec 19, 2016 at 19:15

answered Dec 19, 2016 at 19:00

Dimitris Fasarakis Hilliard

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2 Comments

Demetri Pananos Over a year ago

In my question, I specify that if the data is a string, then it should have quotes.

Dimitris Fasarakis Hilliard Over a year ago

Quite embarrassed :-)

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