Python: format multitline strings with variables

Question

I'm writing a Python script at work that contains a part with a large multiline string that also needs to expand variables. I'm used to doing it the following way in Python 2.6 or Python 3:

message = """
          Hello, {foo}
          Sincerely, {bar}
          """
print (message.format(foo = "John", bar = "Doe"))

However, the server at work is running an old version of Python (2.3.4), which doesn't support string.format. What's a way to do this in old Python versions? Can you do it using the % operator? I tried this, but it didn't seem to work:

message = """
          Hello, %(foo)
          Sincerely, %(bar)
          """ % {'foo': 'John', 'bar': "Doe"}

I could just do it without using multiline strings, but the messages I need to format are quite large with a lot of variables. Is there an easy way to do that in Python 2.3.4? (Still a Python beginner, so sorry if this is a dumb question.)

Eli Courtwright · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-28 15:55:34Z

12

You want to say

message = """
          Hello, %(foo)s
          Sincerely, %(bar)s
          """ % {'foo': 'John', 'bar': "Doe"}

Note the s at the end, which makes the general format "%(keyname)s" % {"keyname": "value"}

answered Mar 28, 2012 at 15:55

Eli Courtwright

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4 Comments

Nate Over a year ago

Gotcha, thanks to you and Matt. That's what I was missing, works great now.

user5306470 Over a year ago

How about concatenating variables?

Eli Courtwright Over a year ago

@AllDani: I'm not sure what you're asking. If your question is, "How do I format a string which involves 2 variables interpolated right next to one another then the answers is to do something like 'Hello %(foo)s%(bar)s' % {'foo': 'x', 'bar': 'y'}. (Or you can use the new str.format approach, which was not an option for the OP since they're on an older version of Python.)

user5306470 Over a year ago

A multiline set of variables.

MattH · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-28 15:55:30Z

3

Try this

message = """
          Hello, %(foo)s
          Sincerely, %(bar)s
          """ % {'foo': "John", 'bar': "Doe"}

answered Mar 28, 2012 at 15:55

MattH

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Comments

Ashwini Chaudhary · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-28 15:57:21Z

2

Dictionary based string formating

message = """
          Hello, %(foo)s
          Sincerely, %(bar)s
          """ % { "foo":"john","bar":"doe"}

answered Mar 28, 2012 at 15:57

Ashwini Chaudhary

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Comments

Blender · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-28 15:55:29Z

0

You have a typo:

message = """
          Hello, %(foo)
          Sincerely, %(bar)
          """ % {'foo': 'John", 'bar': "Doe"}
                        ^

Replace the single quote with a double quote and it should run just fine.

answered Mar 28, 2012 at 15:55

Blender

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1 Comment

Nate Over a year ago

Whoops, thanks. I typed it right on the computer, just made my post wrong. Let me edit that out.

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