How to apply __str__ function when printing a list of objects in Python
Question:
Well this interactive python console snippet will tell everything:
>>> class Test:
... def __str__(self):
... return 'asd'
...
>>> t = Test()
>>> print(t)
asd
>>> l = [Test(), Test(), Test()]
>>> print(l)
[__main__.Test instance at 0x00CBC1E8, __main__.Test instance at 0x00CBC260,
__main__.Test instance at 0x00CBC238]
Basically I would like to get three asd string printed when I print the list. I have also tried pprint but it gives the same results.
Answers:
You need to make a __repr__ method:
>>> class Test:
def __str__(self):
return 'asd'
def __repr__(self):
return 'zxcv'
>>> [Test(), Test()]
[zxcv, zxcv]
>>> print _
[zxcv, zxcv]
Refer to the docs:
object.__repr__(self)
Called by the repr() built-in function and by string conversions (reverse quotes) to compute the “official” string representation of an object. If at all possible, this should look like a valid Python expression that could be used to recreate an object with the same value (given an appropriate environment). If this is not possible, a string of the form <...some useful description...> should be returned. The return value must be a string object. If a class defines __repr__() but not __str__(), then __repr__() is also used when an “informal” string representation of instances of that class is required.
This is typically used for debugging, so it is important that the representation is information-rich and unambiguous.
The suggestion in other answers to implement __repr__ is definitely one possibility. If that’s unfeasible for whatever reason (existing type, __repr__ needed for reasons other than aesthetic, etc), then just do
print [str(x) for x in l]
or, as some are sure to suggest, map(str, l) (just a bit more compact).
Well this interactive python console snippet will tell everything:
>>> class Test:
... def __str__(self):
... return 'asd'
...
>>> t = Test()
>>> print(t)
asd
>>> l = [Test(), Test(), Test()]
>>> print(l)
[__main__.Test instance at 0x00CBC1E8, __main__.Test instance at 0x00CBC260,
__main__.Test instance at 0x00CBC238]
Basically I would like to get three asd string printed when I print the list. I have also tried pprint but it gives the same results.
You need to make a __repr__ method:
>>> class Test:
def __str__(self):
return 'asd'
def __repr__(self):
return 'zxcv'
>>> [Test(), Test()]
[zxcv, zxcv]
>>> print _
[zxcv, zxcv]
Refer to the docs:
object.__repr__(self)Called by the
repr()built-in function and by string conversions (reverse quotes) to compute the “official” string representation of an object. If at all possible, this should look like a valid Python expression that could be used to recreate an object with the same value (given an appropriate environment). If this is not possible, a string of the form<...some useful description...>should be returned. The return value must be a string object. If a class defines__repr__()but not__str__(), then__repr__()is also used when an “informal” string representation of instances of that class is required.This is typically used for debugging, so it is important that the representation is information-rich and unambiguous.
The suggestion in other answers to implement __repr__ is definitely one possibility. If that’s unfeasible for whatever reason (existing type, __repr__ needed for reasons other than aesthetic, etc), then just do
print [str(x) for x in l]
or, as some are sure to suggest, map(str, l) (just a bit more compact).