To delete string contents from file using python list

Question

Using python, I was trying to remove string content from input_file, so in my delete_list I was passing "*.sh".

what should have been passed to remove strings from file to my delete_list to remove string values from file.

test.py

#!/usr/bin/env python3
import sys

infile = "input_file"
outfile = "expected_file"

delete_list = ["*.sh"]
with open(infile) as fin, open(outfile, "w+") as fout:
    for line in fin:
        for word in delete_list:
            line = line.replace(word, "")
        fout.write(line)

input_file

papaya.sh   10
Moosumbi.sh 44
jackfruit.sh 15
orange.sh 11
banana.sh 99
grapes.sh 21
dates.sh 6

expected_file

Is the problem really to remove a set of strings, or is the problem really just to "print the second column"? That's a much easier problem, and probably doesn't even need Python. — Tim Roberts
– Tim Roberts, Commented Jul 15, 2021 at 19:01
@TimRoberts printing second column will also work. But i was trying to eliminate string using python — Amith Kotian
– Amith Kotian, Commented Jul 15, 2021 at 19:06

irahorecka · Accepted Answer · 2021-07-15 19:25:44Z

1

Using regular expressions is probably the way to go. Here's an approach similar to what you wrote - we'll assume input.txt contains your input values, with output.txt as the export file:

#!/usr/bin/env python3
import re

infile = "input.txt"
outfile = "output.txt"
delete_list = [r'^.+\.sh\s*']

with open(infile) as fin, open(outfile, "w+") as fout:
    for line in fin:
        for word in delete_list:
            line = re.sub(word, "", line)
            fout.write(line)

edited Jul 15, 2021 at 19:25

answered Jul 15, 2021 at 18:56

irahorecka

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Comments

user5386938 · Accepted Answer · 2021-07-15 18:52:47Z

1

You can use regular expressions

import re
from io import StringIO

pattern = re.compile(r'^.+\.sh\s*')

data = '''\
papaya.sh   10
Moosumbi.sh 44
jackfruit.sh 15
orange.sh 11
banana.sh 99
grapes.sh 21
dates.sh 6
'''

# replace these two with your open(...) calls
fin = StringIO(data)
fout = StringIO()

for line in fin:
    fout.write(pattern.sub('', line))

# just for demonstration
print(fout.getvalue())

answered Jul 15, 2021 at 18:52

user5386938

2 Comments

Amith Kotian Over a year ago

i wont be knowing the content of string data. only i would be knowing the string content will ended with .sh

user5386938 Over a year ago

As mentioned in the comment in the code, you are supposed to replace, e.g., StringIO(data) with your open(infile). Surely you did not expect me to create a couple of files on my machine just for you.

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