Python - convert comma separated string into reducing string list

Question

Given a Python string like this:

location_in = 'London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom'

I would like to convert it into a list like this:

location_out = ['London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom',
                'Greater London, England, United Kingdom',
                'England, United Kingdom',
                'United Kingdom']

In other words, given a comma separated string (location_in), I would like to copy it to a list (location_out) and gradually break it down by removing the first word/phrase each time.

I'm a Python newbie. Any ideas on a good way to write this? Thanks.

Uh.. Isn't locaton_out just [location_in]? You need to clarify further. — Pwnna
– Pwnna, Commented May 13, 2011 at 23:06
don't. I don't know what you are doing but this probably the wrong approach. — Winston Ewert
– Winston Ewert, Commented May 13, 2011 at 23:15
@WinstonEwert If you don't know what he is doing, how do you know it is the wrong approach? — Ben Mordecai
– Ben Mordecai, Commented Jan 8, 2013 at 17:37
@BenMordecai, the requested output is strange, leading me to think there is probably a better approach to whatever he was trying to do. — Winston Ewert
– Winston Ewert, Commented Jan 8, 2013 at 18:41

9000 · Accepted Answer · 2011-05-13 23:26:40Z

25

location_in  = 'London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom'
locations    = location_in.split(', ')
location_out = [', '.join(locations[n:]) for n in range(len(locations))]

edited May 13, 2011 at 23:26

9000

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answered May 13, 2011 at 23:16

Peter Collingridge

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Comments

9000 · Accepted Answer · 2011-05-13 23:22:19Z

1

Here's a working one:

location_in = 'London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom'
loci = location_is.spilt(', ') # ['London', 'Greater London',..]
location_out = []
while loci:
  location_out.append(", ".join(loci))
  loci = loci[1:] # cut off the first element
# done
print location_out

answered May 13, 2011 at 23:22

9000

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Comments

Yann Vernier · Accepted Answer · 2011-05-13 23:51:18Z

1

Plenty of ways to do this, but here's one:

def splot(data):
  while True:
    yield data
    pre,sep,data=data.partition(', ')
    if not sep:  # no more parts
      return

location_in = 'London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom'
location_out = list(splot(location_in))

A more perverse solution:

def stringsplot(data):
  start=-2               # because the separator is 2 characters
  while start!=-1:       # while find did find
    start+=2             # skip the separator
    yield data[start:]
    start=data.find(', ',start)

edited May 13, 2011 at 23:51

answered May 13, 2011 at 23:22

Yann Vernier

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Comments

dting · Accepted Answer · 2011-05-13 23:27:23Z

0

>>> location_in = 'London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom'
>>> location_out = []
>>> loc_l = location_in.split(", ")
>>> while loc_l:
...     location_out.append(", ".join(loc_l))
...     del loc_l[0]
... 
>>> location_out
['London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom', 
 'Greater London, England, United Kingdom', 
 'England, United Kingdom', 
 'United Kingdom']
>>>

answered May 13, 2011 at 23:27

dting

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