Removing the texts within a comment block ?* */ in python

Question

My input file test.sas file looks like below:

My    
Name is Joe
How are you?;
/* Comment 1 */
/*Comment 2 
blah blah
blah blah blah
blah blah blah blah;*/
/* Comment 3 */
I am great

When I use the following code I get the result that is right after the code:

writing = True

with open('test.sas', 'r') as file:
    with open('output.sas','w') as out:
        for line in file:
            if writing:
                if '/*' in line:
                    writing = False
                else:
                    out.write(line)
            elif '*/' in line:
                writing = True

the result:

My    
Name is Joe
How are you?;

But I would like to get the following result:

My    
Name is Joe
How are you?;
I am great

I can't figure out what I am doing wrong. Basically I want to remove the text within the comment block and write the rest to the output file.

You can only detect /* OR */ on a line because of your elif (not lines with both). Change that to an if — Nick is tired
– Nick is tired, Commented Jul 31, 2018 at 13:34

Zach · Accepted Answer · 2018-07-31 13:40:22Z

3

Change your final

        elif '*/' in line:
            writing = True

to

        if '*/' in line:
            writing = True

That way you can hit both statements if they both exist on the same line.

edited Jul 31, 2018 at 13:40

user8060120

answered Jul 31, 2018 at 13:38

Zach

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Comments

GetHacked · Accepted Answer · 2018-07-31 13:40:29Z

I've added some comments showing the status of your writing variable at the end of each line.

My                     //True
Name is Joe            //True
How are you?;          //True
/* Comment 1 */        //False
/*Comment 2            //False
blah blah              //False
blah blah blah         //False
blah blah blah blah;*/ //True
/* Comment 3 */        //False
I am great             //False

Do you see where the problem comes in? Since the if-statement can is only evaluated once per line (once per loop), it does not set writing to True after lines that have both the /* and */.

To check for both of the comment signs on a single line, allow both if-statements to work in one loop. Change elif '*/' in line: at the end of your program to if '*/' in line. This way, it can set to writing at the end of each loop, even if it set writing to False at first!

trevdev · Accepted Answer · 2018-07-31 14:51:09Z

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Removing the texts within a comment block ?* */ in python

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One Option may be to use regex (re.sub()) to match your quotes and substitute it with an empty string.

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3 Answers 3

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One Option may be to use regex (re.sub()) to match your quotes and substitute it with an empty string.

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