Insert space into string, using Regex

Python Help
1

What’s wrong in my code?

I am trying to insert space ' ' after the colon ':' , if it is missing.

I am matching Full Name:J
capturing group Full Name:
replacing with '\1 '

But it seems the capturing group is not working properly,
I get this distorted result: Full Name: ohn Doe.

Any suggestions?
Thank you.

import re

# Example input string
input_string = "Full Name:John Doe."

# Use re.sub() to add a space after the colon
pattern = r"(Full Name:)\w"
replacement = r"\1 "

# Perform the substitution
result = re.sub(pattern, replacement, input_string)

# Print the result
print(result)
2

That looks right. You’re matching the string Full Name:J, capturing Full Name:, and so replacing the matched string (not just the captured string) with Full Name: .

From your description of what you want, it seems like you want to match an optional space, not a word character. That regex would look like:

pattern = r'(Full Name:) ?'

This would match Full Name: and be replaced with Full Name: . Or if there already is a space, then you will replace Full Name: with Full Name: .

3

Expressed with a string method, you are doing

input_string.replace('Full Name:J', 'Full Name: ')

Can you see why that would result in Full Name: ohn Doe.?

Update your pattern to use a lookahead assertion and your code works:

pattern = r'(Full Name:)(?=\w)'

From the docs

(?!...)

Matches if ... doesn’t match next. This is a negative lookahead assertion. For example, Isaac (?!Asimov) will match 'Isaac ' only if it’s not followed by 'Asimov'.

4

ok, I got it.
thank you all for explanations, both options work!
:wink:

5

Another option is to change your pattern to have two capturing groups:

pattern = r'(Full Name:)(\w)'

Then your replacement can use both groups:

replacement = r'\1 \2'