Convert string to list of strings in python

Question

I have a string extracted from a .csv which has this format:

str = "[point, contextual, point]"

What I wanna do is convert it to a list in the format:

str = ["point", "contextual", "point"]

How can I do it? I tried with json.loads(str) but I got the error:

json.decoder.JSONDecodeError: Expecting value: line 1 column 2 (char 1)

As a general point, it's best not to name something `str` as that's the name of the built-in string type. — sj95126, Oct 17 '21 at 14:59
Refer to the link below for a guideline: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1894269/how-to-convert-string-representation-of-list-to-a-list — Sadegh Rahmani, Oct 17 '21 at 15:02

mozway · Accepted Answer · 2021-10-17T15:02:24.687

2

you could use:

my_str = "[point, contextual, point]"
my_str[1:-1].split(', ') # remove first and last characters ([]) and split on ", "

NB. don't use str as a variable name, this overwrites the str builtin

edited Oct 17 '21 at 15:02

answered Oct 17 '21 at 14:58

mozway

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If input has many spaces, then use `re.split` and `,\s*` as separator – mozway Oct 17 '21 at 15:05

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 17 '21 at 14:59

2

You could use this expression : str[1:-1].split(", ")

By the way it is not recommended to give a variable the name of a python type.

answered Oct 17 '21 at 14:59

hpchavaz

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Dani Mesejo · Answer 3 · 2021-10-17T15:09:49.903

2

I suggest you use yaml:

import yaml
s = "[point, contextual, point]"
s = yaml.load(s, Loader=yaml.FullLoader)
print(s)

Output

['point', 'contextual', 'point']

Note:

yaml is a third party module to install it do (at the command line):

pip install pyyaml

The yaml version of the code snippet above is 5.4.1

edited Oct 17 '21 at 15:09

answered Oct 17 '21 at 15:00

Dani Mesejo

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AttributeError: module 'yaml' has no attribute 'FullLoader' – Ghost Ops Oct 17 '21 at 15:03
Whats your version GhostOps? – Dani Mesejo Oct 17 '21 at 15:03
mine is 3.13, and how do u update it? whats its name in pypi.org? sry cuz i haven't ever used yaml tho – Ghost Ops Oct 17 '21 at 15:07
@GhostOps Updated the answer, if you have already installed perhaps you have to use pip install --upgrade pyyaml – Dani Mesejo Oct 17 '21 at 15:10

Ghost Ops · Answer 4 · 2021-10-17T14:59:46.123

1

Try this code:

string = "[point, contextual, point]"
print(string[1:-1].split(', '))

Outputs:

['point', 'contextual', 'point']

Tell me if its okay for you...

edited Oct 17 '21 at 14:59

answered Oct 17 '21 at 14:57

Ghost Ops

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what is the point of the comprehension? `split` already returns a list – mozway Oct 17 '21 at 14:59

I'mahdi · Answer 5 · 2021-10-17T15:07:07.000

1

You can try this:

>>> st = "[point, contextual, point]"
>>> st[1:-1]
[point, contextual, point]

>>> st[1:-1].split(',')
['point', ' contextual', ' point'] # <- you have space

>>> list(map(lambda x: x.strip(), st[1:-1].split(',')))
['point', 'contextual', 'point']

why not split(', ')?

>>> st = "[point,   contextual,     point]"
>>> st[1:-1].split(', ') 
['point', '  contextual', '    point']

>>> list(map(lambda x: x.strip(), st[1:-1].split(',')))
['point', 'contextual', 'point']

edited Oct 17 '21 at 15:07

answered Oct 17 '21 at 14:58

I'mahdi

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Why not just split on `', '` instead? – Henry Ecker Oct 17 '21 at 15:00

score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Oct 17 '21 at 14:58

Because that's not a valid JSON string, the json.loads doesn't work. You need to do it manually and you can not use json module for the string you have.

st = "[point, contextual, point]"
lst = st[1:-1].split(', ')

On a side note, don't use str as a vairable: that's a builtin

Convert string to list of strings in python

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