Remove only leading zeros from sorted dictionary keys

Question

This is my code

file_name = input()

shows = {}


with open(file_name, 'r') as file:
    lines = file.readlines()
    for i in range(0, len(lines), 2):
        season = lines[i].strip('\n')
        name = lines[i+1].strip('\n')
        if(season in shows):
            shows[season].append(name)
        else:
            shows[season] = [name]
    
    
    with open('output_keys.txt', 'w+') as f:
        for key in sorted (shows.keys()):
            f.write('{}: {}\n'.format(key, '; '.join(shows.get(key))))
            print('{}: {}'.format(key, '; '.join(shows.get(key))))
      
    titles = []      
    for title in shows.values():
        titles.extend(title)
        
    with open('output_titles.txt', 'w+') as f:
        for title in sorted(titles):
            f.write('{}\n'.format(title))
            print(title)
        
            

The problem is with my output_keys files, leading zeros is the only differing output:

I've tried using .strip('0') after the key But then that also removes the trailing zero and messes up the numbers that end in zero.

Answer 1

I think you need to change this line:

f.write('{}: {}\n'.format(key, '; '.join(shows.get(key))))

to this:

f.write('{}: {}\n'.format(key.lstrip("0"), '; '.join(shows.get(key))))

lstrip("0") will remove a "0" only if it as the start/left of a string.

Here are some examples to make that clearer:

>>>"07: Gone with the Wind, Rocky".lstrip('0')
'7: Gone with the Wind, Rocky'
>>>"17: Gone with the Wind, Rocky".lstrip('0')
'17: Gone with the Wind, Rocky'