Format string confusing

Question

Hi im new to Python and Ive been trying to get format print to work but, and this may be me being new, but it seems to be very badly implemented.Any examples for 2.7.6 dont work for the new version and their aren't any real examples I could find on the internet for 3.3. As such I would like to ask for a good example of how format string works. For instance ive been trying to get this to work from my homework.

day,date,year,hour,and minutes must be separate variables.

using one formatted print statement,print the following:

Date:5/31/2013
Time: 3:45 pm

I can get it to work with this code:

def date():

    Month=5
    Day=31
    Year=2013
    Hours=3
    Minutes=45
    Scale='pm'

    a="Date: %i/%i/%i\nTime: %i:%i %s" %(Month,Day,Year,Hours,Minutes,Scale)
    print(a)

It works but its not one line as asked for. Please help format is so confusing.

just use :print("Date: %i/%i/%i\nTime: %i:%i %s" %(Month,Day,Year,Hours,Minutes,Scale)) , no need to store the result in a variable. — Ashwini Chaudhary
– Ashwini Chaudhary, Commented Jun 9, 2013 at 16:08
Welcome to Stack Overflow. Please read the FAQ soon. When someone describes a well-known, widely used product with comments like "I'm trying to get XXX to work ...it seems to be very badly implemented", you immediately reduce your chances of getting useful help. People will either be insulted and respond contemptuously or will just laugh at you and ignore the question. There's a category for closing questions of 'Not constructive' with the rubric "...but this question will likely solicit debate, arguments, polling, or extended discussion." Beware! — Jonathan Leffler
– Jonathan Leffler, Commented Jun 9, 2013 at 16:14
Just to note this, the "%i" and similar placeholders are one way to insert things. The other way is to use "{}", which is to me much easier to read and write and in most cases, the default conversion is exactly what you want. Anyway, welcome to Python! — Ulrich Eckhardt
– Ulrich Eckhardt, Commented Jun 9, 2013 at 16:14

timss · Accepted Answer · 2013-06-09 18:31:17Z

3

The \n in your format string is inserting the new line character. Remove the \n, and you will not have the newline any longer.

Characters preceded by a backslash are known as escape characters. They can be used to insert special formatting into strings. For example:

\n is the newline character,
\t is the tab character

edited Jun 9, 2013 at 18:31

timss

10.3k4 gold badges37 silver badges56 bronze badges

answered Jun 9, 2013 at 16:03

Seth Hoenig

7,4676 gold badges33 silver badges30 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Comments

user2465406 · Accepted Answer · 2013-06-09 16:11:00Z

0

Remove \n because that is used to create a line break.

answered Jun 9, 2013 at 16:11

user2465406

1891 gold badge1 silver badge7 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Format string confusing

2 Answers 2

Comments

Comments

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

Comments

Comments

Related