Capture repeated characters and split using Python

Question

I need to split a string by using repeated characters.

For example:

My string is "howhowhow"

I need output as 'how,how,how'.

I cant use 'how' directly in my reg exp. because my input varies. I should check the string whether it is repeating the character and need to split that characters.

Regex lookahead match and replace. also, please see [this guide](https://stackoverflow.com/help/asking) for good questions. Good luck. — Paul Hodges, Dec 08 '17 at 14:42
Related: [How can I tell if a string repeats itself in Python?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/29481088/how-can-i-tell-if-a-string-repeats-itself-in-python) — Zero Piraeus, Dec 08 '17 at 18:47

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 08 '17 at 17:16

import re

string = "howhowhow"

print(','.join(re.findall(re.search(r"(.+?)\1", string).group(1), string)))

OUTPUT

howhowhow -> how,how,how
howhowhowhow -> how,how,how,how
testhowhowhow -> how,how,how  # not clearly defined by OP

The pattern is non-greedy so that howhowhowhow doesn't map to howhow,howhow which is also legitimate. Remove the ? if you prefer the longest match.

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 08 '17 at 14:35

0

lengthofRepeatedChar = 3
str1 = 'howhowhow'
HowmanyTimesRepeated = int(len(str1)/lengthofRepeatedChar)
((str1[:lengthofRepeatedChar]+',')*HowmanyTimesRepeated)[:-1]
'how,how,how'

Works When u know the length of repeated characters

answered Dec 08 '17 at 14:35

Shivpe_R

1,022
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And if the word is `testhowhowhow`, it outputs `tes,tes,tes,tes` – scharette Dec 08 '17 at 14:38

Capture repeated characters and split using Python

2 Answers2