CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythonstringformatting
XL.
XL.

Reputation: 1520

Can you have variables within triple quotes? If so, how?

This is probably a very simple question for some, but it has me stumped. Can you use variables within python's triple-quotes?

In the following example, how do use variables in the text:

wash_clothes = 'tuesdays'
clean_dishes = 'never'

mystring =""" I like to wash clothes on %wash_clothes
I like to clean dishes %clean_dishes
"""

print(mystring)

I would like it to result in:

 I like to wash clothes on tuesdays
     I like to clean dishes never

If not what is the best way to handle large chunks of text where you need a couple variables, and there is a ton of text and special characters?

Upvotes: 119

Views: 134814

Answers (8)

NullUserException
NullUserException

Reputation: 85458

The preferred way of doing this is using f-strings (introduced in 3.6) rather than str.format() or using %:

Example:

wash_clothes = 'tuesdays'
clean_dishes = 'never'

mystring = f""" I like to wash clothes on {wash_clothes}
I like to clean dishes {clean_dishes}
"""

print(mystring)

The standard in Python 2 (which you definitely shouldn't still be using at this point -- it hasn't been supported since 2020), was str.format()

Upvotes: 101

Blue Clouds
Blue Clouds

Reputation: 8153

This is real working code from my project. Uses 3 single quotes. note the use of single quotes with %s.

day = "2023-07-11"

df_t= spark.sql('''
    select * from db.article_events_ where yyyy_mm_dd < '%s'
    ''' %(day))
df_t.count()

Upvotes: -1

Antti Haapala -- Слава Україні
Antti Haapala -- Слава Україні

Reputation: 133849

Yes! Starting from Python 3.6 you can use the f strings for this: They're interpolated in place, so mystring would have the desired value after the mystring = ... line:

wash_clothes = 'tuesdays'
clean_dishes = 'never'

mystring = f"""I like to wash clothes on {wash_clothes}
I like to clean dishes {clean_dishes}
"""

print(mystring)

Should you need to add a literal { or } in the string, you would just double it:

if use_squiggly:
    kind = 'squiggly'
else:
    kind = 'curly'

print(f"""The {kind} brackets are:
  - '{{', or the left {kind} bracket
  - '}}', or the right {kind} bracket
""")

would print, depending on the value of use_squiggly, either

The squiggly brackets are:
  - '{', or the left squiggly bracket
  - '}', or the right squiggly bracket

or

The curly brackets are:
  - '{', or the left curly bracket
  - '}', or the right curly bracket

Upvotes: 92

pyfunc
pyfunc

Reputation: 66709

One of the ways in Python 2 :

>>> mystring =""" I like to wash clothes on %s
... I like to clean dishes %s
... """
>>> wash_clothes = 'tuesdays'
>>> clean_dishes = 'never'
>>> 
>>> print mystring % (wash_clothes, clean_dishes)
 I like to wash clothes on tuesdays
I like to clean dishes never

Also look at string formatting

Upvotes: 73

Alkesh Mahajan
Alkesh Mahajan

Reputation: 479

Pass multiple args in simple way

wash_clothes = 'tuesdays'
clean_dishes = 'never'
a=""" I like to wash clothes on %s I like to clean dishes %s"""%(wash_clothes,clean_dishes)
print(a)

Upvotes: 0

Alain Collins
Alain Collins

Reputation: 16362

Also note that you don't need the intermediate variable:

name = "Alain"
print """
Hello %s
""" % (name)

Upvotes: 2

chauncey
chauncey

Reputation: 676

I think the simplest way is str.format() as others have said.

However, I thought I'd mention that Python has a string.Template class starting in Python2.4.

Here's an example from the docs.

>>> from string import Template
>>> s = Template('$who likes $what')
>>> s.substitute(who='tim', what='kung pao')
'tim likes kung pao'

One of the reasons I like this is the use of a mapping instead of positional arguments.

Upvotes: 10

jonesy
jonesy

Reputation: 3542

Yes. I believe this will work.

do_stuff = "Tuesday"

mystring = """I like to do stuff on %(tue)s""" % {'tue': do_stuff}

EDIT: forgot an 's' in the format specifier.

Upvotes: 12

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