String regex for a particular format in Python

Question

I have strings in the following format name1 <email1@email.com>. How can I use regex to pull only the name1 part out? Also, how might I be able to do this if I had multiple such names and emails, say name1 <email1@email.com>, name2 <email2@email.com>?

Are the emails actually surrounded by `< >`? – DeepSpace Feb 25 '21 at 18:16 — DeepSpace, Feb 25 '21 at 18:16
@DeepSpace yes, they are. – supersaiyajin87 Feb 25 '21 at 18:21 — supersaiyajin87, Feb 25 '21 at 18:21

Mayank Porwal · Answer 1 · 2021-02-25T18:17:59.823

3

Try using split:

In [164]: s = 'name1 <email1@email.com>, name2 <email2@email.com>'
In [166]: [i.split()[0] for i in s.split(',')]
Out[166]: ['name1', 'name2']

If you have just one name:

In [161]: s = 'name1 <email1@email.com>'
In [163]: s.split()[0]
Out[163]: 'name1'

edited Feb 25 '21 at 18:17

answered Feb 25 '21 at 18:17

Mayank Porwal

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I thought to do this too, but it only works if there are not additional spaces, which I doubt is guaranteed; indeed a regex about `<` would be much cleaner! – ti7 Feb 25 '21 at 18:17
I don't think the emails are surrounded by `<>`. Its just a way of representing. – Mayank Porwal Feb 25 '21 at 18:18
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@ti7 `str.split` will behave the same if there are multiple spaces. `'name1 '.split()` returns the same output as `'name1 '.split()` – C.Nivs Feb 25 '21 at 18:20
Yes, `str.split` by default handles whitespaces. – Mayank Porwal Feb 25 '21 at 18:21
obviously, but it will not work if the structure is like `first, last ` (which "real" emails frequently are) - the OP did not state this, but it'll be the case for any real-world collection – ti7 Feb 25 '21 at 18:21
The emails are surrounded by `<>`, which is why I quoted the whole thing. – supersaiyajin87 Feb 25 '21 at 18:22
@supersaiyajin87 Did my answer work for you? – Mayank Porwal Feb 25 '21 at 18:23

DeepSpace · Accepted Answer · 2021-02-25T18:35:15.160

2

You can start with (\w+)\s<.*?>(?:,\s)? (see on regex101.com), which relies on the fact that emails are surrounded by < >, and customize it as you see fit.

Note that this regex does not specifically look for emails, just for text surrounded by < >.

Don't fall down the rabbit hole of trying to specifically match emails.

import re

regex = re.compile(r'(\w+)\s<.*?>(?:,\s)?')
string = 'name1 <email1@email.com>, name2 <email2@email.com>'

print([match for match in regex.findall(string)])

outputs

['name1', 'name2']

edited Feb 25 '21 at 18:35

answered Feb 25 '21 at 18:27

DeepSpace

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This actually works better for me, thank you. – supersaiyajin87 Feb 25 '21 at 18:29

nahar · Answer 3 · 2021-02-25T19:46:01.963

import re

name = re.search(r'(?<! <)\w+', 'name1 <email@email.com>')

print(name.group(0))

>>> name1

Explanation:

(?<!...) is called a negative lookbehind assertion. I added ' <' into the ... as you are looking for the string that precedes the '<' of the email.

re.search(r'(?<!...), string_to_search)

https://docs.python.org/3/library/re.html

Edit/Forgot:

To search strings with multiple:

import re

regex = r"\w+([?<! <])"

multi_name = "name1 <email@email.com>, name2 <email@email.com>"
    
matches = re.finditer(regex, multi_name, re.MULTILINE)
    
for group, match in enumerate(matches, start=1):
    print(f"Match: {match.group()}")

>>> name1
>>> name2

String regex for a particular format in Python

3 Answers3