Regex search and replace pattern with modified pattern - Python

Question

Is it possible to find a string using regex pattern matching, manipulate it & return it?

For example:

mazda mazda6 mazda 6 mazda3 mazda2

I want 'mazda6','mazda3','mazda2' to be replaced by '6','3','2'. I can find them easily enough using regex (mazda\d), however I don't know how to replace them with a modified version of the matched pattern (i.e. the \d should remain).

Ideal output:

mazda 6 mazda 6 3 2

anubhava · Accepted Answer · 2016-04-01 09:32:34Z

6

You can capture the number in regex and use it's back-reference in replacement:

str = "mazda mazda6 mazda 6 mazda3 mazda2"

result = re.sub(r'\bmazda(\d+)', r'\1', str)

Output:

>>> print result
'mazda 6 mazda 6 3 2'

RegEx Demo

answered Apr 1, 2016 at 9:32

anubhava

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Pelle Nilsson · Accepted Answer · 2016-04-01 10:41:14Z

0

You can use a look-ahead assertion to require that mazda is followed by a number without actually matching it:

str = "mazda mazda6 mazda 6 mazda3 mazda2"
re.sub(r'mazda(?=\d+)', r'', str)

answered Apr 1, 2016 at 10:41

Pelle Nilsson

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