Replace all text between 2 strings python

Question

Lets say I have:

a = r\'\'\' Example
This is a very annoying string
that takes up multiple lines
and h@s a// kind{s} of stupid symbols in it
ok String\'\'\'
         


        

Answer 1

The DOTALL flag is the key. Ordinarily, the '.' character doesn't match newlines, so you don't match across lines in a string. If you set the DOTALL flag, re will match '.*' across as many lines as it needs to.

Answer 2

Another method is to use string splits:

def replaceTextBetween(originalText, delimeterA, delimterB, replacementText):
    leadingText = originalText.split(delimeterA)[0]
    trailingText = originalText.split(delimterB)[1]

    return leadingText + delimeterA + replacementText + delimterB + trailingText

Limitations:

• Does not check if the delimiters exist
• Assumes that there are no duplicate delimiters
• Assumes that delimiters are in correct order

Answer 3

a=re.sub('This.*ok','',a,flags=re.DOTALL)

Answer 4

If you want first and last words:

re.sub(r'^\s*(\w+).*?(\w+)$', r'\1 \2', a, flags=re.DOTALL)

Answer 5

You need Regular Expression:

>>> import re
>>> re.sub('\nThis.*?ok','',a, flags=re.DOTALL)
' Example String'