Replace multiple variable values in string using Python regex

Question

I've got a string that looks like this:

1080p [2.1GB] 720p [1.3GB] 480p [500MB]

In Python, I want to replace all the [x] with ,. I've tried this code:

import re
s1 = '1080p [2.1GB] 720p [1.3GB] 480p [500MB]'
s2 = re.sub("[(.*?)]", ", ", s1)

However, I get as this output: 1080p [2, 1GB] 720p [1, 3GB] 480p [500MB].

Instead, I would like to obtain something like 1080p, 720p, 480p.

Avinash Raj · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-10 11:13:56Z

1

You may use re.split.

>>> s1 = '1080p [2.1GB] 720p [1.3GB] 480p [500MB]'
>>> ', '.join(i for i in re.split(r'\s*\[[^\]]*\]\s*', s1) if i)
'1080p, 720p, 480p'

edited Jul 10, 2015 at 11:13

answered Jul 10, 2015 at 11:08

Avinash Raj

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Wiktor Stribiżew · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-10 11:35:42Z

1

You need to escape the brackets and use raw string:

s2 = re.sub(r"\[(.*?)\]", ", ", s1)

Note that outside of character class, these symbols - .^$*+?()[{\| - should be escaped to match literally.

Here is a demo

If you do not plan to use the contents inside [...], remove the round brackets.

s2 = re.sub(r"\[.*?\]", ", ", s1)

To obtain a "cleaner" string, you may use a bit more sophisticated regex and strip():

import re
s1 = '1080p [2.1GB] 720p [1.3GB] 480p [500MB]'
s2 = re.sub(r"\s*\[.*?\]", ",", s1)
print s2.strip(' ,')

Output of another demo: 1080p, 720p, 480p

edited Jul 10, 2015 at 11:35

answered Jul 10, 2015 at 11:05

Wiktor Stribiżew

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5 Comments

Avinash Raj Over a year ago

but this adds a comma and space at the last.

Wiktor Stribiżew Over a year ago

@AvinashRaj: I see, but i would like something like 1080p, 720p, 480p just means something similar, so it does answer the main issue why the regex was not working.

Wiktor Stribiżew Over a year ago

I added an improved solution.

Avinash Raj Over a year ago

What is [] present at the start.. you may shorten your regex as re.sub(r"\s*\[.*?\]", ", ", s1).rstrip(', ')

Wiktor Stribiżew Over a year ago

I think I already have it, just did not fix in the demo. I also fixed a typo in the answer just now. I also assume there are always spaces between []s and other entities, otherwise, the replacement string should be as in the original.

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