How do I make a:
if str(variable) == [contains text]:
condition?
(or something, because I am pretty sure that what I just wrote is completely wrong)
I am sort of trying to check if a random.choice
from my list is ["",]
(blank) or contains ["text",]
.
You could just compare your string to the empty string:
if variable != "":
etc.
But you can abbreviate that as follows:
if variable:
etc.
Explanation: An if
actually works by computing a value for the logical expression you give it: True
or False
. If you simply use a variable name (or a literal string like "hello") instead of a logical test, the rule is: An empty string counts as False, all other strings count as True. Empty lists and the number zero also count as false, and most other things count as true.
The "Pythonic" way to check if a string is empty is:
import random
variable = random.choice(l)
if variable:
# got a non-empty string
else:
# got an empty string
Empty strings are False by default:
>>> if not "":
... print("empty")
...
empty
Just say if s
or if not s
. As in
s = ''
if not s:
print 'not', s
So in your specific example, if I understand it correctly...
>>> import random
>>> l = ['', 'foo', '', 'bar']
>>> def default_str(l):
... s = random.choice(l)
... if not s:
... print 'default'
... else:
... print s
...
>>> default_str(l)
default
>>> default_str(l)
default
>>> default_str(l)
bar
>>> default_str(l)
default
element = random.choice(myList)
if element:
# element contains text
else:
# element is empty ''
For python 3, you can use bool()
>>> bool(None)
False
>>> bool("")
False
>>> bool("a")
True
>>> bool("ab")
True
>>> bool("9")
True
Some time we have more spaces in between quotes, then use this approach
a = " "
>>> bool(a)
True
>>> bool(a.strip())
False
if not a.strip():
print("String is empty")
else:
print("String is not empty")
How do i make an: if str(variable) == [contains text]:
condition?
Perhaps the most direct way is:
if str(variable) != '':
# ...
Note that the if not ...
solutions test the opposite condition.
if the variable contains text then:
len(variable) != 0
of it does not
len(variable) == 0
string = "TEST"
try:
if str(string):
print "good string"
except NameError:
print "bad string"