Comma separated lists in django templates

Question

If fruits is the list [\'apples\', \'oranges\', \'pears\'],

is there a quick way using django template tags to produce \"apples, oranges, and p

Answer 1

Django doesn't have support for this out-of-the-box. You can define a custom filter for this:

from django import template


register = template.Library()


@register.filter
def join_and(value):
    """Given a list of strings, format them with commas and spaces, but
    with 'and' at the end.

    >>> join_and(['apples', 'oranges', 'pears'])
    "apples, oranges, and pears"

    """
    # convert numbers to strings
    value = [str(item) for item in value]

    if len(value) == 1:
        return value[0]

    # join all but the last element
    all_but_last = ", ".join(value[:-1])
    return "%s, and %s" % (all_but_last, value[-1])

However, if you want to deal with something more complex than just lists of strings, you'll have to use an explicit {% for x in y %} loop in your template.

Answer 2

If you like one-liners:

@register.filter
def lineup(ls): return ', '.join(ls[:-1])+' and '+ls[-1] if len(ls)>1 else ls[0]

and then in the template:

{{ fruits|lineup }}

Answer 3

Here's a super simple solution. Put this code into comma.html:

{% if not forloop.last %}{% ifequal forloop.revcounter 2 %} and {% else %}, {% endifequal %}{% else %}{% endif %}

And now wherever you'd put the comma, include "comma.html" instead:

{% for cat in cats %}
Kitty {{cat.name}}{% include "comma.html" %}
{% endfor %}

---

Update: @user3748764 gives us a slightly more compact version, without the deprecated ifequal syntax:

{% if not forloop.first %}{% if forloop.last %} and {% else %}, {% endif %}{% endif %}

Note that it should be used before the element, not after.

Answer 4

Here's the filter I wrote to solve my problem (it doesn't include the Oxford comma)

def join_with_commas(obj_list):
    """Takes a list of objects and returns their string representations,
    separated by commas and with 'and' between the penultimate and final items
    For example, for a list of fruit objects:
    [<Fruit: apples>, <Fruit: oranges>, <Fruit: pears>] -> 'apples, oranges and pears'
    """
    if not obj_list:
        return ""
    l=len(obj_list)
    if l==1:
        return u"%s" % obj_list[0]
    else:    
        return ", ".join(str(obj) for obj in obj_list[:l-1]) \
                + " and " + str(obj_list[l-1])

To use it in the template: {{ fruits|join_with_commas }}

Answer 5

I think the simplest solution might be:

@register.filter
def comma_list(p_values: Iterable[str]) -> List[str]:
    values = list(p_values)
    if len(values) > 1:
        values[-1] = u'and %s' % values[-1]
    if len(values) > 2:
        return u', '.join(values)
    return u' '.join(values)