How to fix this error when using the str.index() method?

Question

I am having a text string- "The class also contains a string for the collection’s title and a scalar Boolean variable indicating whether the collection is currently editable."

Here, I'm trying to fetch the index of the sub-string "collection's" but getting the below error. ValueError: substring not found

I understand that the apostrophe in the sub-string in the actual text is in different font. So, is there any way where we can bypass difference in the font.

txt = "The class also contains a string for the collection’s title and a scalar Boolean variable indicating whether the collection is currently editable."

print(txt.index("collection's"))

Expected is to have the index of the sub-string- "collection's"

actual result is: ValueError: substring not foundenter code here

String literals in Python don't have any "font"; if two characters look different, it's because they're different characters. You can replace the fancy apostrophes with normal ones like this: txt = txt.replace("’", "'") — jxddk
– jxddk, Commented Apr 16, 2019 at 15:19
As already noted these are different characters. If you encounter situation like this one you might use == operator to check if characters are same - in this case print("’"=="'") outputs False. — Daweo
– Daweo, Commented Apr 16, 2019 at 15:28

user3469811 · Accepted Answer · 2019-04-16 15:17:31Z

3

It is because ’ and ' are different characters

answered Apr 16, 2019 at 15:17

user3469811

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Comments

Devesh Kumar Singh · Accepted Answer · 2019-04-16 15:22:25Z

0

Just make sure your text and the string you are looking for use the same form of apostrophe '

txt = "The class also contains a string for the collection's title and a scalar" \
   "Boolean variable indicating whether the collection is currently editable."
print(txt.index("collection's"))
#41

answered Apr 16, 2019 at 15:22

Devesh Kumar Singh

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2 Comments

Adarsh Namdev Over a year ago

Thanks @Devesh for responding. But what if the text available is huge. and an individual doesn't know if the apostrophe present is: " ’ " or " ' "

Devesh Kumar Singh Over a year ago

Just run a text.replace('’',"'")

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