trimming strings in python 3

Question

I have this function to get a file type :

def get_file_type():
try:
    cmd = ['/usr/bin/file', '/home/user']
    p = Popen(cmd, stdout=PIPE).communicate()[0]
    p = str(p).split(':')[1:]
    if len(p) > 1:
        ' : '.join(p).strip().replace('\\n', '')
    else:
        p = p[0].strip().replace('\\n', '')
    print(p)
except CalledProcessError:
    print('unknown')

But it returns this : directory' The ending apostrophe is not a typo, it is what bothers me. And I don't understand why (not that it bothers me.. ;) )

Thank you

Impossible to reproduce. What is the value of p prior to the reassignment? — tobias_k
– tobias_k, Commented Sep 14, 2017 at 13:49
When len(p) > 1, you are performing a join, strip, and replace that you are throwing away the result of. You presumably want to assign that back to p. — jasonharper
– jasonharper, Commented Sep 14, 2017 at 13:52

Matthew Woodruff · Accepted Answer · 2017-09-14 13:54:06Z

3

The problem is that you're treating bytes as a string and you're using Python3. So what you're getting when you call str(p) looks like this:

"b'/home/user: directory\\n'"

You could fix this by doing p.decode().split instead of str(p).split

answered Sep 14, 2017 at 13:54

Matthew Woodruff

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1 Comment

John Doe Over a year ago

I'm currently upgrading to python3, I thought it was the right way to bytes to string : I know now it isn't. Thanks !

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