[Tutor] using configobj package to output quoted strings

[Alex Hall]

On 6/18/11, Steven D'Aprano <steve at pearwood.info> wrote:
> Alex Hall wrote:
>> Hello all,
>> I am using the configobj package to handle a ridiculously simple ini
>
> What's configobj?
>
>  >>> import configobj
> Traceback (most recent call last):
>    File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
> ImportError: No module named configobj
>
> It's not in the 3.1 standard library. Is it a third-part package, or one
> you have written yourself, or something else?
Right, sorry. http://www.voidspace.org.uk/python/configobj.html
>
>
>> file, which takes the form:
>> [favorites]
>> "search name" = "search terms", "search type"
>>
>> for any number of searches stored in the favorites section. I need the
>> search type, term, and name to be read in as strings, but they will
>> usually contain spaces, which is why I put them in quotes.
>
> You shouldn't need quotes. The standard library configparser module
> doesn't need them:
I'll have a look at it, but I liked configobj's dictionary approach to
everything.
>
>  >>> import configparser
>  >>> ini = configparser.ConfigParser(
> ...       {"key with spaces": "value with spaces, and a comma"})
>  >>> ini.defaults()
> OrderedDict([('key with spaces', 'value with spaces, and a comma')])
>  >>>
>  >>> ini.get("DEFAULT", "key with spaces")
> 'value with spaces, and a comma'
The value is supposed to be a list; in python, you might write a
search like this:
searches={
 "my first search":["the search terms", "the search type"]
}
>
>
> You can use quotes if you like, but why bother?
>
>
>  >>> ini.set('DEFAULT', '"search name"', "some value")
>  >>> ini.defaults()
> OrderedDict([('key with spaces', 'value with spaces, and a comma'),
> ('"search name"', 'some value')])
>
>
>
>> Here is the
>> question: when I try to add a search to the ini file, I cannot get the
>> quotes to show up correctly. I just want my three strings enclosed in
>> single or double quotes, but I cannot manage to do it. I either get no
>
> What do you mean by "show up"? What are you using to do the showing?
>
> Remember, that when Python displays strings, the outer-most set of
> quotes are not part of the string. They're just the syntax to tell
> Python you are typing a string, and not part of the string, in the same
> way that the [ ] surrounding a list are not actually part of the list.
I know, that is why I was using backslashes to escape quotes, trying
to force the quotes to be outputted to the file when I call
configobj's write() method, which takes the entire configuration and
puts it in a .ini file.
>
> So if I do this:
>
>  >>> s = "hello world"
>  >>> s
> 'hello world'
>
> The string is made up of characters h e l l o etc. and *not* the quotes.
> You can see the string without the delimiters by using print:
>
>  >>> print(s)
> hello world
>
> but if you print an object containing a string, you still get the quotes
> (for obvious reasons):
>
>  >>> print([1, 2, s])
> [1, 2, 'hello world']
>
>
> So, the question is, are you mistaking the string syntax for the
> contents of the string? If so, you will hardly be the first one!
No, the configobj will not see the multiple words of the string as a
single value unless there are quotes in the config file.
>
>
>
>> quotes, or, when I manually add them (such as "\""+searchTerms+"\""
>> and so on), I get strings surrounded by both double and single quotes.
>
> Sounds like you are mistaking them.
>
> If you do this:
>
>  >>> searchTerms = "hello world"
>  >>> "\"" + searchTerms + "\""
> '"hello world"'
>
> The single quotes are just delimiters. The double quotes are part of the
> string, exactly as you wanted.
>
> Also, there is never any need to write something as ugly as "\"". This
> is why Python gives you a choice of two different string delimiters,
> single and double quotes. That is better written as:
>
> '"'
>
> with no need to escape the inner quote. The only good reason to escape a
> quotation mark is if you need *both* quote marks in a single string:
>
> "John Cleese said, \"'e's not dead, 'e's just pining for the fjords!\""
Good point. Still, it is odd (well, to me at least) that when I write
the string to the file with no quotes, I get no quotes, but using
double quotes in the string's value gives me both single and double
quotes.
>
>
>
> --
> Steven
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-- 
Have a great day,
Alex (msg sent from GMail website)
mehgcap at gmail.com; http://www.facebook.com/mehgcap