Reverse string-formatting (maybe?)

[Dustan]

Is there any builtin function or module with a function similar to my
made-up, not-written deformat function as follows? I can't imagine it
would be too easy to write, but possible...

>>> template = 'I am %s, and he %s last %s.'
>>> values = ('coding', "coded', 'week')
>>> formatted = template % values
>>> formatted
'I am coding, and he coded last week.'
>>> deformat(formatted, template)
('coding', 'coded', 'week')

expanded (for better visual):
>>> deformat('I am coding, and he coded last week.', 'I am %s, and he %s last %s.')
('coding', 'coded', 'week')

It would return a tuple of strings, since it has no way of telling what
the original type of each item was.


Any input? I've looked through the documentation of the string module
and re module, did a search of the documentation and a search of this
group, and come up empty-handed.