Extract values from a string with Python

Question

I send a POST request that returns me as a string response with the following structure.: |hiddenField|field_name|field_value|

How can I do in Python to get these values, field_name and field_value?

I tried using regular expression, but I could not.

|hiddenField|__VIEWSTATE|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|512|hiddenField|__VIEWSTATE1|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|512|hiddenField|__VIEWSTATE2|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|512|

err, there seems to be 4 types contained in this string. hiddenField, __VIEWSTATE, some long text string, and a number. Which information were you trying to collect, and what format where you trying to get it into? — dmlicht
– dmlicht, Commented Feb 27, 2017 at 2:05

dmlicht · Accepted Answer · 2017-02-27 02:11:27Z

4

If you can assume the data will consistently be in the given format, you can convert it to a dictionary mapping field names to field values with the following function:

def parse(big_string_blob):
  split_input = big_string_blob.split("|")     # (1)
  field_names = split_input[2::4]              # (2)
  field_values = split_input[3::4]             # (3)
  return dict(zip(field_names, field_values))  # (4)

1: Converts the text string into a list of strings separated by the | character. See string.split
2. Creates a list containing every fourth element of split_input starting from the 3rd element. These correspond to the field names.
3. Creates a list containing every fourth element of split_input starting from the 4th element. These correspond to the field values.
4. Creates a dictionary mapping the elements in the first list as keys to the corresponding elements in the second list. See zip.

You can also play around with it here: https://repl.it/Fyog/0

edited Feb 27, 2017 at 2:11

answered Feb 27, 2017 at 1:56

dmlicht

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1 Comment

Gleydson S. Tavares Over a year ago

If in your String you have other keys and you just want __viewstate you can do: print {k:v for k,v in items.items() if '__VIEWSTATE' in k}

Chiheb Nexus · Accepted Answer · 2017-02-27 03:30:26Z

You can parse your data using regex like this example:

I assume your data is:

a = "|hiddenField|__VIEWSTATE|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|512|hiddenField|__VIEWSTATE1|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|512|hiddenField|__VIEWSTATE2|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|512|"

Then you can do:

import re

obj = re.findall('\|hiddenField|\|(.*?)\|\d+\|', a)

final = {k[0]:k[1] for k in [k.split('|') for k in obj if k != '']}

for k in final.items():
    print(k)

Output:

('__VIEWSTATE1', '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')
('__VIEWSTATE', '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')
('__VIEWSTATE2', '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')

However, if you want to parse all your data like |hiddenField|field_name|field_value|digits you can do:

import re

obj = re.findall('\|hiddenField|\|(.*?)\|(\d+)\|', a)

final = {k[0]:{'field_value': k[1], 'digits': k[2]} for k in [k[0].split("|") + [k[1]] for k in obj if k != ('','')]}

for k in final.items():
    print(k)

Output:

('__VIEWSTATE', {'field_value': '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', 'digits': '512'})
('__VIEWSTATE2', {'field_value': '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', 'digits': '512'})
('__VIEWSTATE1', {'field_value': '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', 'digits': '512'})

If the text has for example || hiddenField | __EVENTARGUMENT |. Is it possible to get only where __VIEWSTATE appears? text

Gleydson S. Tavares · Accepted Answer · 2017-02-28 02:58:31Z

1

You can try the following too. It will only take words that begin with __

obj = [x.group() for x in re.finditer('__.*?\|\d+\|', input)]
final = {k[0]:k[1] for k in [k.split('|') for k in obj if k != '']}
for k in final.items():
    print(k)

answered Feb 28, 2017 at 2:58

Gleydson S. Tavares

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