Regex, Select characters between multiple brackets

Question

Given the following string:

john<str> name2, doe<str>  name1

where str can be string of arbitrary length

I want to select and replace '< str >' and '< str >' with an empty character, such that I get:

john name1, doe name2

I have the following:

new_string = re.sub('<.*>', '', astring, flags=re.DOTALL)

However this is giving me:

john name1

Can `str` contains `<` and `>` as well? – Willem Van Onsem Jul 06 '18 at 21:07 — Willem Van Onsem, Jul 06 '18 at 21:07

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 06 '18 at 21:08

0

Make your regex non greedy by adding a ? after the *

astring = 'john<str> name2, doe<str>  name1'
re.sub('<.*?>', '', astring, flags=re.DOTALL)
# 'john name2, doe  name1'

answered Jul 06 '18 at 21:08

Sunitha

Not sure why someone downvoted you, this is correct. That's a reluctant quantifier. – Daniel Smith Jul 06 '18 at 21:12

1 Answers1