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Python Regular Expressions in Python Introduction to Regular Expressions Players Dictionary and Class

Posted by Trace Harris
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree seal-36
Trace Harris
Python Web Development Techdegree Graduate 22,065 Points

I just need someone to break this down for me I am getting half matches etc not all sure why I am not matching patterns

please help me break this step by step because I am at a loss why this is not working

players.py 
import re

string = '''Love, Kenneth: 20
Chalkley, Andrew: 25
McFarland, Dave: 10
Kesten, Joy: 22
Stewart Pinchback, Pinckney Benton: 18'''

players = re.search("""r
(?P<last_name>[\w]+?\s?[\w]+),\s
#(?P<first_name>[\w]+):\s
#(?P<score>[\d+])
""", string, re.X)
Trace Harris
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree seal-36
Trace Harris
Python Web Development Techdegree Graduate 22,065 Points

able to get match object for first name last_name match object is 'land' I am not sure why I am not matching McFarland even when I was using re.I flag

1 Answer

Dave StSomeWhere
Dave StSomeWhere
19,822 Points
Dave StSomeWhere
Dave StSomeWhere
19,822 Points

Yep - regex is difficult for me also - that's why it helps to review your code and debug it - help me gain a better understanding also.

This won't be enough to complete the challenge but should be enough to get you moving in the right direction - the challenge will also require the begin and end line identifiers along with handling multiple names (like Stewart Pinchback - two first names) - Just let me know if you need assistance with those.

Three key items:

  1. the "r" for raw string needs to be before the triple quotes
  2. the '+' plus sign for 1 or more needs to be outside the brackets for the score (or you'll only get the first digit)
  3. you also need re.M for multiline -

With just those changes you should be able to test the following in your local environment like below:

import re

string = '''Love, Kenneth: 20
Chalkley, Andrew: 25
McFarland, Dave: 10
Kesten, Joy: 22
Stewart Pinchback, Pinckney Benton: 18'''

players = re.search(r"""
(?P<last_name>[\w]+?\s?[\w]+),\s
(?P<first_name>[\w]+):\s
(?P<score>[\d]+)
""", string, re.M|re.X)

print(players)
# output
<_sre.SRE_Match object; span=(0, 17), match='Love, Kenneth: 20'>
print(players.groups())
# output
('Love', 'Kenneth', '20')
print(players.groupdict())
# output
{'last_name': 'Love', 'first_name': 'Kenneth', 'score': '20'}

Hope that helps