Given the string:
s = "Why did you foo bar a <b>^f('y')[f('x').get()]^? and ^f('barbar')^</b>"
How do I replace the ^f('y')[f('x').get()]^ and ^f('barbar')^ with a string, e.g. PLACEXHOLDER?
The desired output is:
Why did you foo bar a <b>PLACEXHOLDER? and PLACEXHOLDER</b>
I've tried re.sub('\^.*\^', 'PLACEXHOLDER', s) but the .* is greedy and it matches, ^f('y')[f('x').get()]^? and ^f('barbar')^ and outputs:
Why did you foo bar a PLACEXHOLDER
There can be multiple substrings of unknown number that's encoded by \^ so hardcoding this is not desired:
re.sub('(\^.+\^).*(\^.*\^)', 'PLACEXHOLDER', s)
If you add a question mark after the star, it will make it non-greedy.
\^.*?\^
http://www.regexpal.com/?fam=97647
Why did you foo bar a <b>^f('y')[f('x').get()]^? and ^f('barbar')^</b>
Properly replaces to
Why did you foo bar a <b>PLACEXHOLDER? and PLACEXHOLDER</b>