Regex + Python - Converting multiple commands into one or fewer commands

Question

Does anyone have an idea on how to convert the following commands into one or fewer commands?

variable = re.search("[a-zA-Z0-9]+[a-zA-Z0-9\-' ]+[a-zA-Z0-9]+", variable).group(0)
variable = re.sub(" {2,}", " ", variable)
variable = re.sub("'{2,}", "'", variable)
variable = re.sub("\-{2,}", "-", variable)

Kind Regards,

Marian

I guess it would help a great deal if you posted the strings you are actually trying to match. — Tomalak
– Tomalak, Commented May 14, 2011 at 20:04
I am trying to match something like "Blabla's bla-bla1345", for example. Only alphanumeric are allowed. And space, -, ', but not consecutive and not at the start or end of the string. — Marian
– Marian, Commented May 14, 2011 at 21:10

Boaz Yaniv · Accepted Answer · 2011-05-14 20:03:09Z

1

This is a start:

variable = re.search("[a-zA-Z0-9]+[a-zA-Z0-9\-' ]+[a-zA-Z0-9]+", variable).group(0)
variable = re.sub("([ '\-])\\1+", "\\1", variable)

answered May 14, 2011 at 20:03

Boaz Yaniv

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5 Comments

Marian Over a year ago

Works like a charm. Thank you! :) Btw, can you please explain this part "([ '\-])\\1+", "\\1" ?

Boaz Yaniv Over a year ago

\1 (or \\1 because I had to double-escape it) is a reference to the first capture group. That's why I put the '[ '\-]' in parenthesis - to make it a capture group. Now I can repeat it anywhere (in my matches and in my replaces) using \1. I can refer to the second group I define (if I had one) with \2, to the third with \3, etc.

Boaz Yaniv Over a year ago

Also, since you're new to stack overflow, I'll kindly remind you to mark this question as answered. :) People here don't like it when askers leave questions unanswered and may not answer your questions in the future if you have a low accepted answers rating. :)

Marian Over a year ago

Thank you for your time :) Also, I know I sound kinda silly, but how do I mark my question as answered?

Alan Moore Over a year ago

More precisely, mark this answer as accepted; it's that green checkmark icon on the left. By the way, you can use Python's raw strings to cut down on the backslash-itis: re.sub(r"([ '\-])\1+", r"\1", variable)

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