Python - how to use the dict() function with only a variable?

I have a variable called "dict_str" that looks like this : "a = 15, a2 = 19" (it continue for thousands of inputs). If I try to use the dict() function :

dict(dict_str)

it gives me this error :

ValueError: dictionary update sequence element #0 has length 1; 2 is required

But if I do this :

 dict(a = 15, a2 = 19)

it works fine. So I am wondering if there's a way to make it works with the dict_str variable

Solution

This is a work around.

items = [item.split('=') for item in dict_str.split(', ')]

my_dict = {}
for key, value in items:
    my_dict[key.strip()] = int(value.strip())

print(my_dict)

If you prefer a dict comprehension you can use the bellow approach

items = [item.split('=') for item in dict_str.split(', ')]
my_dict = {key.strip(): int(value.strip()) for key, value in items}
print(my_dict)

{'a': 15, 'a2': 19}

You could even use regex depending on your use case.

Example:

import re

regex = re.compile(r'(\w+) *= *(\d+)') 
items = regex.findall(dict_str)
my_dict = {key: int(value) for key, value in items} 

print(my_dict)

This regex should produce same output.