converting objects to string

[huntermorgan]

hi there,
i have an object reference "_sre.SRE_Pattern object at 0x01180C40"
how to i convert this into the string representative?

i am creating a simple dom oriented code project that takes in a txt
file and then prints it out in xml format.

<start_of_code>

import re
from xml.dom.minidom import *

def main():

    f = open('1.txt', 'r')
    text = f.readlines()
    f.close()
    
    doc = Document()
    co = doc.createElement("2003 Course Outline")
    doc.appendChild(co)

    keyRE = re.compile('(^[0-9])\t(\b[A-Z])\n')
    for line in text:
        firstLine = repr(keyRE) #????????
        co2 = doc.createElement(firstLine)
        co.appendChild(co2)

        print doc.toprettyxml(indent="  ")
if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

<end_of_code>

the txt file only has this in it "1	COURSE STAFF MEMBERS"

The print out of it returns this
>>> <?xml version="1.0" ?>
<2003 Course Outline>
  <<_sre.SRE_Pattern object at 0x01180C40>/>
</2003 Course Outline>

as you can see 'repr(keyRE)' doesnt work
i would like the string "<COURSE STAFF MEMBERS>" and not 
<_sre.SRE_Pattern object at 0x01180C40>/

how do i do this???

thankyou