How can I split a string with no delimiters but with fixed number of decimal places - python

Question

What is the best way to split the following string into 6 float values. The number of decimal points will always be six.

x='  2C   6s         0.043315-143.954801 17.872676 31.277358-18.149649114.553363'

The output should read:

y=[0.043315, -143.954801, 17.872676, 31.277358, 18.149649, 114.553363]

[http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4703390/how-to-extract-a-floating-number-from-a-string-in-python](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4703390/how-to-extract-a-floating-number-from-a-string-in-python) — Quicksilver, Feb 10 '16 at 08:57
Yes, I can throw away the 2C and 6S. Only interested in the floats. — Sean M Ryno, Feb 10 '16 at 09:00
I get everything but there is no rule to separate **18.149649, 114.553363** — Nabin, Feb 10 '16 at 09:02

albert · Accepted Answer · 2016-02-10T09:24:03.877

4

Assuming that you want to get -18.149649 instead of 18.149649 since that would be consistent I suggest using a regex in combination with the .findall() function as follows:

import re

regex = '(-?[0-9]{1,}\.[0-9]{6})'

x = '  2C   6s         0.043315-143.954801 17.872676 31.277358-18.149649114.553363'

out = re.findall(regex, x)

print(out)

Giving:

['0.043315', '-143.954801', '17.872676', '31.277358', '-18.149649', '114.553363']

Update due to comment:

You could replace [0-9] with \d which is equivalent since \d matches a digit (number) as shown here.

edited Feb 10 '16 at 09:24

answered Feb 10 '16 at 09:09

albert

8,027
10
48
84

1

Can `0-9` substituted by `\d` ? – Quicksilver Feb 10 '16 at 09:18
@Khaleel: You're right. See the regex sandbox [here](https://regex101.com/r/cP3wO0/1) – albert Feb 10 '16 at 09:20
@albert: That worked like a charm. Thank you. I have very limited experience using regex, but I will now look into them more. – Sean M Ryno Feb 10 '16 at 11:54

Bzisch · Answer 2 · 2016-02-10T09:20:09.180

2

This should do the trick.

re.findall(r'\-?[0-9]+\.[0-9]{6}', string)

edited Feb 10 '16 at 09:20

answered Feb 10 '16 at 09:09

Bzisch

101
5

How can I split a string with no delimiters but with fixed number of decimal places - python

2 Answers2