Using String Formatting in Python

Question

I have a predetermined format

FORMAT = "{0:<30}{1}"

Which I want to use in relation to tuple x, where tuple x is something like

['bananas', '246']

I've tried everything I can, and it keeps spitting out errors. How do I use the format with my tuple?

EDIT: My expected output should (I think) simply put spaces between the first and second items, like

Bananas                                     246

I tried

x = FORMAT(x)

which gives

TypeError: 'str' object is not callable

Don't try everything you can. Try the thing that is supposed to work, and if it doesn't, show us that code and the corresponding stack trace. — Lukas Graf
– Lukas Graf, Commented May 21, 2014 at 15:17

jonrsharpe · Accepted Answer · 2014-05-21 15:37:27Z

7

str.format expects multiple arguments corresponding to the placeholders in the string being formatted, rather than a single argument that contains multiple items to be formatted. Therefore I think what you want is:

FORMAT.format(*['bananas', '246'])

where the * means "unpack the items in the iterable as separate positional arguments", i.e. effectively calls:

FORMAT.format('bananas', '246')

If your list is e.g.

x = ['bananas', '246']

then you can convert to a formatted string like:

x = FORMAT.format(*x)

edited May 21, 2014 at 15:37

answered May 21, 2014 at 15:18

jonrsharpe

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3 Comments

Chrystael Over a year ago

When I use FORMAT.format(*[x]), it gives Tuple Index out of Range

kylieCatt Over a year ago

Remove the brackets form around the x

jonrsharpe Over a year ago

@Chrystael that's because you're trying to unpack a list with a single element (which just happens to be a list itself) to a function expecting two arguments - it's *x not *[x].

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