How do you remove the whitespace in a string with multiple lines python?

Question

i use python to read a txt file.

i have tried using .lstrip to remove the whitespace from the left but it only manages to remove the whitespace from the first line.

In the text file:

when i use this:

puzzle = puzzle.replace('',' ')

 x m f y c x v t l j l q b b y b k o u m j q w b t 
 c a u b m e k n b e y d q m c n z y j p v r a n k 
 a q a c t i v e x n y v w d v c o s h o y a o h g 
 p a g h z k c t u d p t j d p h s z t p r h t t l 
 s b s n a k j w q b o u f t m g n j q b t l i n u 
 t s e w o h v o b d s d u q j i f f k y y l o d o 
 o u k w w e f r o y a m a p m l r r p v d o l o p 
 c q k f x t l k s j v t m t r s b y c m q r r r i 
 k f e r v l q i d q a x a o a n f q j l m c p j h 
 y o y y w r b p f c j l f b c b b c o e c s p w l 
 t w b x e t y u y u f v v m a u a w j m b w l q h 
 t x o k d e x m d b t g v h p s v s q t m l j d x 
 d c a t e n r e h t e o x q d g e u e l j t r r n 
 j a r t e q v t x e j f s q d d k b u h c y s f q 
 h p d r o w s s a p x t r x h p d x c d h i c o n

what i get when i use: print (puzzle.lstrip())

x m f y c x v t l j l q b b y b k o u m j q w b t 
 c a u b m e k n b e y d q m c n z y j p v r a n k 
 a q a c t i v e x n y v w d v c o s h o y a  t j d p h s z t p r h t t l 
 s b s n a k j w q b o u f t m g n j q b t l i n u 
 t s e w o h v o b d s d u q j i f f k y y l o d o 
 o u k w w e f r o y a m a p m l r r p v d o l o p 
 c q k f x t l k s j v t m t r s b y c m q r r r i 
 k f e r v l q i d q a x a o a n f q j l m c p j h 
 y o y y w r b p f c j l f b c b b c o e c s p w l 
 t w b x e t y u y u f v v m a u a w j m b w l q h 
 t x o k d e x m d b t g v h p s v s q t m l j d x 
 d c a t e n r e h t e o x q d g e u e l j t r r n 
 j a r t e q v t x e j f s q d d k b u h c y s f q 
 h p d r o w s s a p x t r x h p d x c d h i c o n

Instead i want remove all the whitespace from the left to get:

x m f y c x v t l j l q b b y b k o u m j q w b t 
c a u b m e k n b e y d q m c n z y j p v r a n k 
a q a c t i v e x n y v w d v c o s h o y a o h g 
p a g h z k c t u d p t j d p h s z t p r h t t l 
s b s n a k j w q b o u f t m g n j q b t l i n u 
t s e w o h v o b d s d u q j i f f k y y l o d o 
o u k w w e f r o y a m a p m l r r p v d o l o p 
c q k f x t l k s j v t m t r s b y c m q r r r i 
k f e r v l q i d q a x a o a n f q j l m c p j h 
y o y y w r b p f c j l f b c b b c o e c s p w l 
t w b x e t y u y u f v v m a u a w j m b w l q h 
t x o k d e x m d b t g v h p s

Thanks for your help!!!!

the input file you have posted does not seem to contain a whitespace(s) at all — RomanPerekhrest
– RomanPerekhrest, Commented Dec 21, 2017 at 10:47
Why do you execute this first? : puzzle = puzzle.replace('',' ') — quamrana
– quamrana, Commented Dec 21, 2017 at 10:55

Quickbeam2k1 · Accepted Answer · 2017-12-21 11:07:37Z

2

Starting from txt

txt = """xmfycxvtljlqbbybkoumjqwbt
caubmeknbeydqmcnzyjpvrank
aqactivexnyvwdvcoshoyaohg
paghzkctudptjdphsztprhttl
sbsnakjwqbouftmgnjqbtlinu
tsewohvobdsduqjiffkyylodo
oukwwefroyamapmlrrpvdolop
cqkfxtlksjvtmtrsbycmqrrri
kfervlqidqaxaoanfqjlmcpjh
yoyywrbpfcjlfbcbbcoecspwl
twbxetyuyufvvmauawjmbwlqh
txokdexmdbtgvhpsvsqtmljdx
dcatenrehteoxqdgeueljtrrn
jarteqvtxejfsqddkbuhcysfq
hpdrowssapxtrxhpdxcdhicon"""

you can print the desired result like that:

for line in txt.splitlines():
    print(' '.join(line))

and if you don't want to print, you can use a list comprehension to store the results in a variable:

result = [' '.join(line) for line in txt.splitlines()]

edited Dec 21, 2017 at 11:07

answered Dec 21, 2017 at 10:52

Quickbeam2k1

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2 Comments

fechnert Over a year ago

I think he wants to remove all whitespaces, instead of adding a whitespace after every line

tobias_k Over a year ago

@fechnert This is an alternative way to add the desired whitespaces instead of replace('', ' '), not for removing the leading space on each line (though that could be made clearer in the answer)

Sergi Pasoevi · Accepted Answer · 2017-12-21 10:49:19Z

0

You can replace all instances of newline followed by space by newline:

puzzle = puzzle.replace('\n ','')

answered Dec 21, 2017 at 10:49

Sergi Pasoevi

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Comments

Svavelsyra · Accepted Answer · 2017-12-21 11:18:47Z

0

I suppose this might work:

result = [row.lstrip() for row in filehandle.readlines()]

answered Dec 21, 2017 at 11:18

Svavelsyra

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