How to remove brackets '[ ]'from string using python?

Question

I am unable to remove brackets '[ ]' from the below string.

I am getting this response through an API:

[["b", "m", "l", "a", "p", "c"], [["20,5,93767,TEST,Watch,16"], ["19,5,767, TEST,Lamb,23"], ["19,5,3767,TEST,DB,99"]]]

I have to change this response to:

"b", "m", "l", "a", "p", "c", "20,5,93767,TEST,Watch,16", "19,5,767, TEST,Lamb,23", "19,5,3767,TEST,DB,99"

I have to use python

I am using this code to remove it:

(str(content_line)[1:-1])

now I am getting this output:

"\"b', 'm', 'l', 'a', 'p', 'c\",'\"\\'20,5,93767,TEST,Watch,16\\'\", \"\\'19,5,767, TEST,Lamb,23, \"\\'19,5,3767,TEST,DB,99\\'\"'"

This looks more like a list of lists of strings. If it truely is a string, you could just try `str.replace("[", "")` and `str.replace("]", "")` — tst, Dec 12 '19 at 12:21
Does this answer your question? [How to make a flat list out of list of lists?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/952914/how-to-make-a-flat-list-out-of-list-of-lists) — JohnRW, Dec 12 '19 at 12:25

score 3 · Accepted Answer · edited Dec 12 '19 at 14:18

3

def flatten(content_line):
    result = []
    for element in content_line:
        if isinstance(element, list):
            result.extend(flatten(element))
        else:
            result.append(element)
    return result

flatten(content_line)

edited Dec 12 '19 at 14:18

Dishin H Goyani

7,195
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answered Dec 12 '19 at 12:22

Chengcheng Ji

46
2

Could you add some simple explanation about what exactly this code snippet is doing? – deHaar Dec 12 '19 at 12:32
it's a recursive function that flatten a python list. If a list contains another list, it will recursively flatten that list and return a simple list back. – Chengcheng Ji Dec 12 '19 at 16:27
Yes. This is the most useful to me as I am also getting a list. Still my output is not what I wanted. Its lookin like this now: ["b", "m", "l", "a", "p", "c", "20,5,93767,TEST,Watch,16", "19,5,767, TEST,Lamb,23", "19,5,3767,TEST,DB,99"] – Kapil Shukla Dec 13 '19 at 09:11
if you want a string output instead, you can use `', '.join(flatten(content_line))` – Chengcheng Ji Dec 14 '19 at 13:17

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 12 '19 at 12:12

1

You can use the str.join for this

print(', '.join(content_line))

answered Dec 12 '19 at 12:12

Reznik

2,663
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score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 12 '19 at 12:19

1

# input string
a_st = """ [["b", "m", "l", "a", "p", "c"], [["20,5,93767,TEST,Watch,16"], ["19,5,767, TEST,Lamb,23"], ["19,5,3767,TEST,DB,99"]]] """

# replace brackets '[]' with ''
output = a_st.replace('[','').replace(']','')

# output
print(output)
>>> '"b", "m", "l", "a", "p", "c", "20,5,93767,TEST,Watch,16", "19,5,767, TEST,Lamb,
23", "19,5,3767,TEST,DB,99"'

answered Dec 12 '19 at 12:19

Dishin H Goyani

7,195
3
26
37

Thanks, this might work for string, but mine is a list – Kapil Shukla Dec 13 '19 at 09:12

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 20 '20 at 12:30

0

I solved this by using String instead of tuples.

answered Jan 20 '20 at 12:30

Kapil Shukla

179
1
10

Could you explain how? – Selim Yildiz Jan 20 '20 at 12:54

How to remove brackets '[ ]'from string using python?

4 Answers4