The official solution (Python 3 Docs) for strings in format mappings is to subclass the dict class and to define the magic-method __missing__(). This method is called whenever a key is missing, and what it returns is used for the string formatting instead:
class format_dict(dict):
def __missing__(self, key):
return "..."
d = format_dict({"foo": "name"})
print("My %(foo)s is %(bar)s" % d) # "My name is ..."
print("My {foo} is {bar}".format(**d)) # "My name is ..."
Edit: the second print() works in Python 3.5.3, but it does not in e.g. 3.7.2: KeyError: 'bar' is raised and I couldn't find a way to catch it.
After some experiments, I found a difference in Python's behavior. In v3.5.3, the calls are __getitem__(self, "foo") which succeeds and __getitem__(self, "bar") which can not find the key "bar", therefore it calls __missing__(self, "bar") to handle the missing key without throwing a KeyError. In v3.7.2, __getattribute__(self, "keys") is called internally. The built-in keys() method is used to return an iterator over the keys, which yields "foo", __getitem__("foo") succeeds, then the iterator is exhausted. For {bar} from the format string there is no key "bar". __getitem__() and hence __missing_() are not called to handle the situation. Instead, the KeyError is thrown. I don't know how one could catch it, if at all.
In Python 3.2+ you should use format_map() instead (also see Python Bug Tracker - Issue 6081):
from collections import defaultdict
d = defaultdict(lambda: "...")
d.update({"foo": "name"})
print("My {foo} is {bar}".format_map(d)) # "My name is ..."
If you want to keep the placeholders, you can do:
class Default(dict):
def __missing__(self, key):
return key.join("{}")
d = Default({"foo": "name"})
print("My {foo} is {bar}".format_map(d)) # "My name is {bar}"
As you can see, format_map() does call __missing__().
The following appears to be the most compatible solution as it also works in older Python versions including 2.x (I tested v2.7.15):
class Default(dict):
def __missing__(self, key):
return key.join("{}")
d = Default({"foo": "name"})
import string
print(string.Formatter().vformat("My {foo} is {bar}", (), d)) # "My name is {bar}"
To keep placeholders as-is including the format spec (e.g. {bar:<15}) the Formatter needs to be subclassed:
import string
class Unformatted:
def __init__(self, key):
self.key = key
def __format__(self, format_spec):
return "{{{}{}}}".format(self.key, ":" + format_spec if format_spec else "")
class Formatter(string.Formatter):
def get_value(self, key, args, kwargs):
if isinstance(key, int):
try:
return args[key]
except IndexError:
return Unformatted(key)
else:
try:
return kwargs[key]
except KeyError:
return Unformatted(key)
f = Formatter()
s1 = f.vformat("My {0} {1} {foo:<10} is {bar:<15}!", ["real"], {"foo": "name"})
s2 = f.vformat(s1, [None, "actual"], {"bar":"Geraldine"})
print(s1) # "My real {1} name is {bar:<15}!"
print(s2) # "My real actual name is Geraldine !"
Note that the placeholder indices are not changed ({1} remains in the string without a {0}), and in order to substitute {1} you need to pass an array with any odd first element and what you want to substitute the remaining placeholder with as second element (e.g. [None, "actual"]).
You can also call the format() method with positional and named arguments:
s1 = f.format("My {0} {1} {foo:<10} is {bar:<15}!", "real", foo="name")
s2 = f.format(s1, None, "actual", bar="Geraldine")
