How to format a multi line string with triple quotes inside using Python?

Question

I couldn't find this online but basically I have a string like this:

s = "name={0},
address={1},
nickname={2},
age={3},
comments=
"""
{4}
"""
"

and I need to format this string as is using variables like so:

s.format("alice", "N/A", "alice", 18, "missing person")

I can't change the triple quotes there because the program that will use my string expects that, otherwise won't work.

How can I have this string declared/escaped correctly?

Answer 1

You can escape triple-quotes inside a string the same way you can escape any other quote character, with a \:

s = """name={0},
address={1},
nickname={2},
age={3},
comments=
\"\"\"
{4}
\"\"\"
"""

Strictly speaking, you only have to escape one of the " characters --- enough to prevent a triple """ from appearing --- but I find escaping all three makes my intent more clear.

Later...

sf = s.format("alice", "N/A", "alice", 18, "missing person")
print(sf)
print('----')
print(repr(sf))

...produces:

name=alice,
address=N/A,
nickname=alice,
age=18,
comments=
"""
missing person
"""

----
'name=alice,\naddress=N/A,\nnickname=alice,\nage=18,\ncomments=\n"""\nmissing person\n"""\n'

niemmi's answer works, but only if you don't have a mix of ''' and """ triple-quotes inside the string. Escaping the quote characters with a backslash always works.

Annoyance #1: Trailing Newline

I printed the row of dashes to highlight that s has preserved the newline between the last three escaped quote characters and the triple quotes that actually ended the string. To remove it from the literal:

s = """[as before...]
\"\"\"
{4}
\"\"\""""

Annoyance #2: Indentations Preserved Inside Literal

The second and following lines of the s literal must be flush against the first (left-hand) column. Triple-quoted strings neatly lined up inside an indented block:

def indents_appear_in_string_literal():
    # This looks good but doesn't work right.
    s = """name={0},
    address={1},
    nickname={2},
    age={3},
    comments=
    \"\"\"
    {4}
    \"\"\"
    """
    sf = s.format("alice", "N/A", "alice", 18, "missing person")
    print(sf)
    print('----')
    print(repr(sf))
    return

...will preserve the indentations inside the literal:

name=alice,
    address=N/A,
    nickname=alice,
    age=18,
    comments=
    """
    missing person
    """

----
'name=alice,\n    address=N/A,\n    nickname=alice,\n    age=18,\n    comments=\n    """\n    missing person\n    """\n    '

Answer 2

You could use triple single quotes for the string:

s = '''name={0},
address={1},
nickname={2},
age={3},
comments=
"""
{4}
"""
'''

print s.format("alice", "N/A", "alice", 18, "missing person")

Output:

name=alice,
address=N/A,
nickname=alice,
age=18,
comments=
"""
missing person
"""