python replace the content in between angle brackets (<>)

Question

I want to replace the content in between <>

Ex:

Input:

this is a < test >

Output:

this is a < hh > 

So far I have:

test = "this is a <test>"
test = re.sub(r"\<[^>]*\>", "hh", test)
print(test)

This will always erase the <> and result an output like:

this is a hh

But what I want is:

this is a < hh >

How should I fix it?

Answer 1

As thefourtheye suggests, one solution is to do

newstr = 'hh'
test = re.sub(r'\<[^>]*\>', '<' + newstr + '>', test)

But I suspect a more optimal solution with re.