Replace character with another only if repeated and not part of a word












6















In Python3, the following code works to replace a string (two or more) of *'s with x's. 



import re

re.sub(r'*(?=*)|(?<=*)*', 'x', 'Replace this *** but not this *')

# 'Replace this xxx but not this *'


But what if I also want to exempt a string of *'s that are part of a "word" like the following? (I.e. the string is attached to one or more [a-zA-Z] characters.)



text = "Don't replace foo*** or **bar, either."

# unmodified text expected


How do I do this? I can probably match the exempted cases as well and use a replacement function to deal with them, but is there a better way?






python regex python-3.x







share|improve this question





























    6















    In Python3, the following code works to replace a string (two or more) of *'s with x's. 



    import re
    
re.sub(r'*(?=*)|(?<=*)*', 'x', 'Replace this *** but not this *')
    
# 'Replace this xxx but not this *'


    But what if I also want to exempt a string of *'s that are part of a "word" like the following? (I.e. the string is attached to one or more [a-zA-Z] characters.)



    text = "Don't replace foo*** or **bar, either."
    
# unmodified text expected


    How do I do this? I can probably match the exempted cases as well and use a replacement function to deal with them, but is there a better way?






    python regex python-3.x







    share|improve this question



























      6












      6








      6








      In Python3, the following code works to replace a string (two or more) of *'s with x's. 



      import re
      
re.sub(r'*(?=*)|(?<=*)*', 'x', 'Replace this *** but not this *')
      
# 'Replace this xxx but not this *'


      But what if I also want to exempt a string of *'s that are part of a "word" like the following? (I.e. the string is attached to one or more [a-zA-Z] characters.)



      text = "Don't replace foo*** or **bar, either."
      
# unmodified text expected


      How do I do this? I can probably match the exempted cases as well and use a replacement function to deal with them, but is there a better way?






      python regex python-3.x







      share|improve this question
















      In Python3, the following code works to replace a string (two or more) of *'s with x's. 



      import re
      
re.sub(r'*(?=*)|(?<=*)*', 'x', 'Replace this *** but not this *')
      
# 'Replace this xxx but not this *'


      But what if I also want to exempt a string of *'s that are part of a "word" like the following? (I.e. the string is attached to one or more [a-zA-Z] characters.)



      text = "Don't replace foo*** or **bar, either."
      
# unmodified text expected


      How do I do this? I can probably match the exempted cases as well and use a replacement function to deal with them, but is there a better way?






      python regex python-3.x




      python regex python-3.x






      share|improve this question















      share|improve this question













      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question








      edited 3 hours ago









      0m3r

      8,02292554




      8,02292554










      asked 4 hours ago









      bongbangbongbang

      607720




      607720
























          2 Answers
          2






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          7














          regex = r"s*{2,}[sn]"


          This matches 2 or more * chars, surrounded by whitespace (or ended with a newline)



          Call it maybe like this?



          regex = r"s*{2,}[sn]"
          

          

          
def replacer(match):
          
    return 'x' * len(match.group())
          

          
re.sub(regex, replacer, your_string_here)





          share|improve this answer
























          • You gave me a good idea for the use of the replacer function, but your pattern, by including the spaces in the match, would seem to turn this **** string into this******string, which is not I want. It would also not replace **** this string, which I do want to replace. That said, I now have a solution that works thanks to you. Thank you.

            – bongbang
            3 hours ago





















          0














          This answer is inspired Danielle M.'s. This pattern below seems to give me what I want. The rest is the same as hers. 



          regex = r'(?<![a-zA-Z])*{2,}(?![a-zA-Z])'





          share|improve this answer























            Your Answer






            StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function () {
            StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function () {
            StackExchange.using("snippets", function () {
            StackExchange.snippets.init();
            });
            });
            }, "code-snippets");

            StackExchange.ready(function() {
            var channelOptions = {
            tags: "".split(" "),
            id: "1"
            };
            initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

            StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
            // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
            if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
            StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
            createEditor();
            });
            }
            else {
            createEditor();
            }
            });

            function createEditor() {
            StackExchange.prepareEditor({
            heartbeatType: 'answer',
            autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
            convertImagesToLinks: true,
            noModals: true,
            showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
            reputationToPostImages: 10,
            bindNavPrevention: true,
            postfix: "",
            imageUploader: {
            brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
            contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
            allowUrls: true
            },
            onDemand: true,
            discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
            ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
            });


            }
            });














            draft saved

            draft discarded


















            StackExchange.ready(
            function () {
            StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fstackoverflow.com%2fquestions%2f55389122%2freplace-character-with-another-only-if-repeated-and-not-part-of-a-word%23new-answer', 'question_page');
            }
            );

            Post as a guest















            Required, but never shown

























            2 Answers
            2






            active

            oldest

            votes








            2 Answers
            2






            active

            oldest

            votes









            active

            oldest

            votes






            active

            oldest

            votes









            7














            regex = r"s*{2,}[sn]"


            This matches 2 or more * chars, surrounded by whitespace (or ended with a newline)



            Call it maybe like this?



            regex = r"s*{2,}[sn]"
            

            

            
def replacer(match):
            
    return 'x' * len(match.group())
            

            
re.sub(regex, replacer, your_string_here)





            share|improve this answer
























            • You gave me a good idea for the use of the replacer function, but your pattern, by including the spaces in the match, would seem to turn this **** string into this******string, which is not I want. It would also not replace **** this string, which I do want to replace. That said, I now have a solution that works thanks to you. Thank you.

              – bongbang
              3 hours ago


















            7














            regex = r"s*{2,}[sn]"


            This matches 2 or more * chars, surrounded by whitespace (or ended with a newline)



            Call it maybe like this?



            regex = r"s*{2,}[sn]"
            

            

            
def replacer(match):
            
    return 'x' * len(match.group())
            

            
re.sub(regex, replacer, your_string_here)





            share|improve this answer
























            • You gave me a good idea for the use of the replacer function, but your pattern, by including the spaces in the match, would seem to turn this **** string into this******string, which is not I want. It would also not replace **** this string, which I do want to replace. That said, I now have a solution that works thanks to you. Thank you.

              – bongbang
              3 hours ago
















            7












            7








            7







            regex = r"s*{2,}[sn]"


            This matches 2 or more * chars, surrounded by whitespace (or ended with a newline)



            Call it maybe like this?



            regex = r"s*{2,}[sn]"
            

            

            
def replacer(match):
            
    return 'x' * len(match.group())
            

            
re.sub(regex, replacer, your_string_here)





            share|improve this answer













            regex = r"s*{2,}[sn]"


            This matches 2 or more * chars, surrounded by whitespace (or ended with a newline)



            Call it maybe like this?



            regex = r"s*{2,}[sn]"
            

            

            
def replacer(match):
            
    return 'x' * len(match.group())
            

            
re.sub(regex, replacer, your_string_here)






            share|improve this answer












            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer










            answered 3 hours ago









            Danielle M.Danielle M.

            2,2051623




            2,2051623













            • You gave me a good idea for the use of the replacer function, but your pattern, by including the spaces in the match, would seem to turn this **** string into this******string, which is not I want. It would also not replace **** this string, which I do want to replace. That said, I now have a solution that works thanks to you. Thank you.

              – bongbang
              3 hours ago





















            • You gave me a good idea for the use of the replacer function, but your pattern, by including the spaces in the match, would seem to turn this **** string into this******string, which is not I want. It would also not replace **** this string, which I do want to replace. That said, I now have a solution that works thanks to you. Thank you.

              – bongbang
              3 hours ago



















            You gave me a good idea for the use of the replacer function, but your pattern, by including the spaces in the match, would seem to turn this **** string into this******string, which is not I want. It would also not replace **** this string, which I do want to replace. That said, I now have a solution that works thanks to you. Thank you.

            – bongbang
            3 hours ago







            You gave me a good idea for the use of the replacer function, but your pattern, by including the spaces in the match, would seem to turn this **** string into this******string, which is not I want. It would also not replace **** this string, which I do want to replace. That said, I now have a solution that works thanks to you. Thank you.

            – bongbang
            3 hours ago















            0














            This answer is inspired Danielle M.'s. This pattern below seems to give me what I want. The rest is the same as hers. 



            regex = r'(?<![a-zA-Z])*{2,}(?![a-zA-Z])'





            share|improve this answer




























              0














              This answer is inspired Danielle M.'s. This pattern below seems to give me what I want. The rest is the same as hers. 



              regex = r'(?<![a-zA-Z])*{2,}(?![a-zA-Z])'





              share|improve this answer


























                0












                0








                0







                This answer is inspired Danielle M.'s. This pattern below seems to give me what I want. The rest is the same as hers. 



                regex = r'(?<![a-zA-Z])*{2,}(?![a-zA-Z])'





                share|improve this answer













                This answer is inspired Danielle M.'s. This pattern below seems to give me what I want. The rest is the same as hers. 



                regex = r'(?<![a-zA-Z])*{2,}(?![a-zA-Z])'






                share|improve this answer












                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer










                answered 3 hours ago









                bongbangbongbang

                607720




                607720






























                    draft saved

                    draft discarded




















































                    Thanks for contributing an answer to Stack Overflow!


                    • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

                    But avoid …



                    • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

                    • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


                    To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




                    draft saved


                    draft discarded














                    StackExchange.ready(
                    function () {
                    StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fstackoverflow.com%2fquestions%2f55389122%2freplace-character-with-another-only-if-repeated-and-not-part-of-a-word%23new-answer', 'question_page');
                    }
                    );

                    Post as a guest















                    Required, but never shown





















































                    Required, but never shown














                    Required, but never shown












                    Required, but never shown







                    Required, but never shown

































                    Required, but never shown














                    Required, but never shown












                    Required, but never shown







                    Required, but never shown







                    -

                    Popular posts from this blog

                    الفوسفات في المغرب

                    Image
                    قطار ينقل فوسفات من منطقة خريبكة متجه نحو الدار البيضاء. ديار عمال بمصانع الفوسفات بمدينة آسفي. المحتوى هنا ينقصه الاستشهاد بمصادر. يرجى إيراد مصادر موثوق بها. أي معلومات غير موثقة يمكن التشكيك بها وإزالتها. (أغسطس 2015) الفوسفات في المغرب هو ثالث مصدر عالمي للفوسفات، ويتوفر المغرب على %75 من الاحتياطي العالمي  [بحاجة لمصدر] ويتوزع بنسب متفاوتة بين عدة مناطق أساسية وهي: وادي زم بن جرير بوكراع خريبكة اليوسفية أولاد عبدون كنتور واد الذهب مستقلة. هذه الأخيرة لم تفتح بعد للاستغلال. الصادرات الحامض الفوسفوري P205 تمتص الهند %50 من ا لصادرات الإجمالية آسيا (دون روسيا)%59 أوروبا %30 أمريكا اللاتينية %11 أسمدة صلبة أوروبا 38 % أمريكا اللاتينية %30 آسيا (دون روسيا) 22 % أستراليا 9 % بوابة المغرب هذه بذرة مقالة عن علم الاقتصاد أو موضوع متعلق به بحاجة للتوسيع. شارك في تحريرها. This page is only for reference, If you need detailed information, please check here
                    Read more

                    Four equal circles intersect: What is the area of the small shaded portion and its height

                    Image
                    3 $begingroup$ In terms of $R$ which is the radius of all four circles, what is the area of the intersection region of these four equal circles and the height of the marked arrow in the figure? The marked arrow is along the line CD, also the midpoint of all the circles are points A, B, C and D. Looking for a very short intuitive solution. I have checked similar questions on this site for example this and this. geometry circle share | cite | improve this question edited 2 hours ago Abdulhameed asked 2 hours ago ...
                    Read more

                    بطل الاتحاد السوفيتي

                    Image
                    بطل الاتحاد السوفيتي   البلد الاتحاد السوفيتي  أول جائزة 16 أبريل 1934  العدد الممنوح 12776 [1]   تعديل   وسام بطل الاتحاد السوفيتي بطل الاتحاد السوفيتي (بالروسية:Герой Советского Союза؛ جيروي سويتسكوفو سيوزا) كان أعلى وسام في الاتحاد السوفيتي، منح لمجموعات وأشخاصا منفردين قدموا خدمات جليلة للمجتمع والدولة السوفيتية. مجموع الأوسمة التي مُنحت هو 12,775 وسامًا، مُنح أولها في 16 أبريل 1939، وآخرها في 20 ديسمبر 1991. بعض من نال اللقب مرة واحدة Rouslan Aouchev يوري جاجارين Valentina Grizodoubova Anna Iegorova ميليتون كنتاريا Vladimir Konovalov Zoïa Kosmodemianskaïa نيقولاي غيراسيموفيتش كوزنيتسوف Alexandre Marinesko Nikolai Melnik أوتو شميدت ريخارد زورغه فالنتينا تريشكوفا Evgueni Tolstikov فاسيلي زايتسيف Ievgueni Pepeliaïev ناتاليا ميكلين Наталья Мекли مرتان إيفان باغراميان Sydir Kovpak Amet-Khan Soultan Ivan Papanine سيميون تيموشينكو 3 مرات Semion Boudienny Ivan Kojedoub ألكسندر بوكريشكين 4 مرات ليون...
                    Read more