Python - looking for a faster way to extract substrings from string

Question

I have a long string, and I've extracted the substrings I wanted. I am looking for a method which uses less lines of code to get my output. I'm after all the sub strings which start with CN=., and removing everything else up-to the semi-colon..

example list output (see picture)

picture of output

The script I'm currently using is below

    import re
    import fnmatch
    import os
    
    # System call
    os.system("")
    
    # Class of different styles
    class style():
        BLACK = '\033[30m'
        RED = '\033[31m'
        GREEN = '\033[32m'
        YELLOW = '\033[33m'
        BLUE = '\033[34m'
        MAGENTA = '\033[35m'
        CYAN = '\033[36m'
        WHITE = '\033[37m'
        UNDERLINE = '\033[4m'
        RESET = '\033[0m'
    
    CNString = "CN=User2,OU=blurb,OU=Test,DC=Test,DC=Testal;CN=User4,OU=blurb,OU=Test,DC=Test,DC=Testal;CN=User56,OU=blurb,OU=Test,DC=Test,DC=Testal;CN=User9,OU=blurb,OU=Test,DC=Test,DC=Testal;CN=Jane45 user,OU=blurb,OU=Test,DC=Test,DC=Testal;CN=User-Donna,OU=blurb,OU=Test,DC=Test,DC=Testal;CN=User76 smith,OU=blurb,OU=Test4,DC=Test,DC=Testal;CN=Pink Panther,OU=blurb,OU=Test,DC=Testing,DC=Testal;CN=Testuser78,OU=blurb,OU=Tester,DC=Test,DC=Testal;CN=great Scott,OU=blurb,OU=Test,DC=Test,DC=Local;CN=Leah Human,OU=blurb,OU=Test,DC=Test,DC=Testal;CN=Alan Desai,OU=blurb,OU=Test,DC=Test,DC=Testal;CN=Duff Beer,OU=Groups,OU=Test,DC=Test,DC=Testal;CN=Jane Doe,OU=Users,OU=Test76,DC=Test,DC=Testal;CN=simple user67,OU=Users,OU=Test,DC=Test,DC=Testal;CN=test O'Lord,OU=Users,OU=Test,DC=Concero,DC=Testal"
    
    newstring1 = CNString.replace(';','];')
    print(newstring1)
    
    newstring2 = newstring1.replace(',OU=',',[OU=')
    print(newstring2)
    
    newstring3 = newstring2.replace(',[OU','],[OU')
    print(newstring3)
    
    newstring4 = newstring3.replace('],[OU',',[OU')
    print(newstring4)
    
    newstring5 = newstring4.replace('];',']];')
    print(newstring5)
    
    endstring = "]]"
    newstring6 = newstring5 + endstring
    print(newstring6)
    
    newstring7 = re.sub("\[.*?\]","()",newstring6)
    print(newstring7)
    
    print(style.YELLOW + "Line Break")
    
    newstring8 = newstring7.replace(',()]','')
    print(style.RESET + newstring8)
    
    newstring9 = newstring8.split(';')
    for cnname in newstring9:
        print(style.GREEN + cnname)

I am not sure if you are looking for a faster way or you want to use simpler code (they do not necessarily equate... in fact they often conflict). — norok2
– norok2, Commented Nov 24, 2021 at 11:35
An example given in an image is not as useful as an example given directly in the question. — John Coleman
– John Coleman, Commented Nov 24, 2021 at 11:40

trincot · Accepted Answer · 2021-11-24 11:40:59Z

1

Not sure why your code is juggling with those square brackets. Wouldn't this do it?

names = re.findall(r"\bCN=[^,;]*", CNString)

answered Nov 24, 2021 at 11:40

trincot

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Tajinder Singh · Accepted Answer · 2021-11-24 11:39:50Z

1

 cn_list = [elem.split(",")[0] for elem in CNString.split(";") if elem.startswith("CN=")]

If I print cn_list I obtain:

['CN=User2', 'CN=User4', 'CN=User56', 'CN=User9', 'CN=Jane45 user', 'CN=User-Donna', 'CN=User76 smith', 'CN=Pink Panther', 'CN=Testuser78', 'CN=great Scott', 'CN=Leah Human', 'CN=Alan Desai', 'CN=Duff Beer', 'CN=Jane Doe', 'CN=simple user67', "CN=test O'Lord"]

answered Nov 24, 2021 at 11:39

Tajinder Singh

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