printf formatting of strings in python

Question

Is there a way to do printf formatting to strings in Python? Something like this where the count x is rewritten every time instead of echoing to a new line.

x=0
while [[ $x -lt 10 ]]; do
    x=$((x+1))
    printf '%s\r'"Processing page ${x}"
    sleep 1
done

The answer to this question will depend on the version of Python in use. Are you using Python2 or Python3? — Robᵩ, Jun 22 '17 at 23:20

ZuluDeltaNiner · Answer 1 · 2017-06-22T23:34:46.450

1

In Python 3 (Daiwei Chen's answer covers Python 2.6+ also):

import time
x = 0
while x < 10:
    x += 1
    print('\rProcessing Page {0}'.format(x), end='')
    time.sleep(1)

Adding a carriage return to the beginning and removing the new line from the end with end='' will overwrite the current line.

edited Jun 22 '17 at 23:34

answered Jun 22 '17 at 23:17

ZuluDeltaNiner

725
2
11
27

You might mention that your solution is specific to Python3, or (even better) provide solution(s) that work in both Python2 and Python3. – Robᵩ Jun 22 '17 at 23:22
Yes, I remembered that just now – ZuluDeltaNiner Jun 22 '17 at 23:33
Thanks for helping. – I0_ol Jun 23 '17 at 02:40

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 22 '17 at 23:22

1

In Python 3.x, the print function takes in an additional argument for the end parameter.

>>> print('foo', end='')
foo

>>> for i in range(10):
print('foo', end='')
foofoofoofoofoofoofoofoofoofoo

Of course, if you're using Python >= 2.6, you'll need to import print_function from __future__.

>>> from __future__ import print_function

answered Jun 22 '17 at 23:22

Daiwei Chen

11
1

Thanks for helping out. – I0_ol Jun 23 '17 at 02:40

printf formatting of strings in python

2 Answers2