Fix Python – String formatting named parameters?

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Question

Asked By – mpen

I know it’s a really simple question, but I have no idea how to google it.

how can I do

print '<a href="%s">%s</a>' % (my_url)

So that my_url is used twice? I assume I have to “name” the %s and then use a dict in the params, but I’m not sure of the proper syntax?

just FYI, I’m aware I can just use my_url twice in the params, but that’s not the point 🙂

Now we will see solution for issue: String formatting named parameters?

Answer

Solution in Python 3.6+

Python 3.6 introduces literal string formatting, so that you can format the named parameters without any repeating any of your named parameters outside the string:

print(f'<a href="{my_url:s}">{my_url:s}</a>')

This will evaluate my_url, so if it’s not defined you will get a NameError. In fact, instead of my_url, you can write an arbitrary Python expression, as long as it evaluates to a string (because of the :s formatting code). If you want a string representation for the result of an expression that might not be a string, replace :s by !s, just like with regular, pre-literal string formatting.

For details on literal string formatting, see PEP 498, where it was first introduced.

This question is answered By – gerrit

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