Re Split Multiple Arguments | (or) Returns None Python

I'm using the RE expression in python and trying to split a chunk of text by period and by exclamation mark. However when I split it, I get a 'None' in the result a = 'This is my t

Solution 1:

Try the following:

re.split(r'((?<=\w)\.(?!\..)|!)', a)

You get the None because you have two capturing groups, and all groups are included as a part of the re.split() result.

So any time you match a . the second capture group is None, and any time you match a ! the first capture group is None.

Here is the result:

['This is my text...I want it to split by periods','.',' I also want it to split by exclamation marks','!',' Is that so much to ask?']

If you don't want to include '.' and '!' in your result, just remove the parentheses that surround the entire expression: r'(?<=\w)\.(?!\..)|!'

Solution 2:

Here's a simpler expression (any period not followed or preceeded by a period) with the outer capturing group around the whole or | clause to avoid the None, not just the first part:

re.split(r'((?<!\.)\.(?!\.)|!)', a)

# Result:# ['This is my text...I want it to split by periods', #  '.', #  ' I also want it to split by exclamation marks', #  '!', #  ' Is that so much to ask?']

Solution 3:

it is happening because after every exclamation mark there's a space character which is returned as None here.

You can use filter to remove these None's.

>>> import re
>>> a = "This is my text...I want it to split by periods. I also want it to split \
by exclamation marks! Is that so much to ask?">>> filter(lambda x:x!=None, re.split('((?<=\w)\.(?!\..))|(!)',a))

['This is my text...I want it to split by periods', '.', ' I also want it to split by exclamation marks', '!', ' Is that so much to ask?']