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I am reading from an informix database on windows server via python and pyobdc.

Retrieving a row with decimal values I get something like this:

    [(Decimal("0.99"), ), (Decimal("0.0"), ), (Decimal("113.84"), ),.....]

It is no problem to get rid of the Word decimal but I cant figure out how to delete all the braces and " I dont need so that I can calculate the sum of this list.

What is the best way to do it in python?

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  • You aren't "getting rid of words" because you presumably don't have a string; you have a data structure there. The string you show there is just a text representation of the data. Commented Aug 12, 2011 at 16:59

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You can just calculate sum of Decimal objects, they have __sum__ method.

>>> from decimal import Decimal
>>> a = [(Decimal("0.99"), ), (Decimal("0.0"), ), (Decimal("113.84"), )]
>>> sum(i[0] for i in a) #Because they're in a tuple
Decimal('114.83')
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Strictly speaking, the from decimal import Decimal isn't necessary, since the Decimal objects have already been instantiated.
@Chinmay it's necessary to set up an example from scratch though :)
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Your problem isn't that you have the Decimal("xyz") but that each value is in a tuple. So, you need to get the values out of the tuples so you can sum them.

a = [(Decimal("0.99"), ), (Decimal("0.0"), ), (Decimal("113.84"), ),.....]
b = sum(number[0] for number in a)
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Does the Decimal() type support addition or does he first have to cast it to a float?
Decimal supports addition just fine.
@Brandon: they support addition. Casting to a float is a bad idea, as then you lose precision.

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