Python string interpolation using dictionary and strings

Question

Given:

dict = {"path": "/var/blah"} curr = "1.1" prev = "1.0" 

What's the best/shortest way to interpolate the string to generate the following:

path: /var/blah curr: 1.1 prev: 1.0

I know this works:

str = "path: %(path)s curr: %(curr)s prev: %(prev)s" % {"path": dict["path"],"curr": curr, "prev": prev} 

But I was hoping there is a shorter way, such as:

str = "path: %(path)s curr: %s prev: %s" % (dict, curr, prev) 

My apologies if this seems like an overly pedantic question.

Answer 1

You can try this:

data = {"path": "/var/blah",         "curr": "1.1",         "prev": "1.0"}  s = "path: %(path)s curr: %(curr)s prev: %(prev)s" % data 

Answer 2

And of course you could use the newer (from 2.6) .format string method:

>>> mydict = {"path": "/var/blah"} >>> curr = "1.1" >>> prev = "1.0" >>> >>> s = "path: {0} curr: {1} prev: {2}".format(mydict['path'], curr, prev) >>> s 'path: /var/blah curr: 1.1 prev: 1.0'    

Or, if all elements were in the dictionary, you could do this:

>>> mydict = {"path": "/var/blah", "curr": 1.1, "prev": 1.0} >>> "path: {path} curr: {curr} prev: {prev}".format(**mydict) 'path: /var/blah curr: 1.1 prev: 1.0' >>> 

From the str.format() documentation:

This method of string formatting is the new standard in Python 3.0, and should be preferred to the % formatting described in String Formatting Operations in new code.