Replacing items in string, Python

Question

I'm trying to define a function in python to replace some items in a string. My string is a string that contains degrees minutes seconds (i.e. 216-56-12.02)

I want to replace the dashes so I can get the proper symbols, so my string will look like 216° 56' 12.02"

I tried this:

def FindLabel ([Direction]):
  s = [Direction]
  s = s.replace("-","° ",1) #replace first instancwe of the dash in the original string
  s = s.replace("-","' ") # replace the remaining dash from the last string

  s = s + """ #add in the minute sign at the end

  return s

This doesn't seem to work. I'm not sure what's going wrong. Any suggestions are welcome.

Cheers, Mike

Given that the very first line is a syntax error in either Python2 or Python3 (if you're trying to decompose-match the arguments, that's not how you do it), it's going to be hard for anyone to figure out what you're actually attempting. — abarnert
– abarnert, Commented Oct 25, 2012 at 23:31

Blender · Accepted Answer · 2012-10-25 22:07:20Z

2

Honestly, I wouldn't bother with replacement. Just .split() it:

def find_label(direction):
    degrees, hours, minutes = direction.split('-')

    return u'{}° {}\' {}"'.format(degrees, hours, minutes)

You could condense it even more if you want:

def find_label(direction):
    return u'{}° {}\' {}"'.format(*direction.split('-'))

If you want to fix your current code, see my comments:

def FindLabel(Direction):  # Not sure why you put square brackets here
  s = Direction            # Or here
  s = s.replace("-",u"° ",1)
  s = s.replace("-","' ")

  s += '"'  # You have to use single quotes or escape the double quote: `"\""`

  return s

You might have to specify the utf-8 encoding at the top of your Python file as well using a comment:

# This Python file uses the following encoding: utf-8

edited Oct 25, 2012 at 22:07

answered Oct 25, 2012 at 22:01

Blender

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2 Comments

Mike Over a year ago

Hey BLender, thanks for replying. I like your syntax. I'm having further issues though. First off, the reason why 'Direction' is in square brackets is because it is a field in an access table. I'm cursoring through each record to change the format of the string. I've tried both of your examples above and not I get an error returning saying 'FindLabel' is not defined?

Blender Over a year ago

I renamed your function to find_label.

Aprillion · Accepted Answer · 2012-10-25 22:00:32Z

1

this is how i would do it by splitting into a list and then joining back:

s = "{}° {}' {}\"".format(*s.split("-"))

answered Oct 25, 2012 at 22:00

Aprillion

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