Getting column widths from string in python

Question

I have the foll. string:

'    Y   M   D     PDSW      RSPC      NPPC       NEE'

Each element in the string corresponds to a column in a csv file. Is there a way (aside from for loops), of getting the width of each column from this string? E.g. Th first column has a width of 5 (' Y'), the next has a width of 4(' M')...

.. And what is wrong with doing it the way you suggest: with a loop? — Jongware
– Jongware, Commented Oct 12, 2015 at 20:51
nothing wrong per se, just hoping if there is a more pythonic way — user308827
– user308827, Commented Oct 12, 2015 at 20:52
Is using a regex also Not The Python Way? (Guess based on stackoverflow.com/q/4995892/2564301 - you'd just have to capture sets of n spaces followed by m not-spaces). — Jongware
– Jongware, Commented Oct 12, 2015 at 20:55
The accepted answer suggests not. There is also an alternative that uses findall in lieu of split. — Jongware
– Jongware, Commented Oct 12, 2015 at 20:57

Jon Clements · Accepted Answer · 2015-10-12 20:56:34Z

5

Maybe something like:

>>> text = '    Y   M   D     PDSW      RSPC      NPPC       NEE'
>>> cols = re.findall('\s+\S+', text)
>>> [len(col) for col in cols]
[5, 4, 4, 9, 10, 10, 10]

So - assume the columns (right-aligned) are one or more spaces followed by one or more non-space, then take the lengths of the resulting strings.

answered Oct 12, 2015 at 20:56

Jon Clements

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