Split string every n characters but without splitting a word

Question

Let's suppose that I have this in python:

orig_string = 'I am a string in python'

and if we suppose that I want to split this string every 10 characters but without splitting a word then I want to have this:

strings = ['I am a ', 'string in ', 'python']

or this (without the whitespaces at the splittings):

strings = ['I am a', 'string in', 'python']

Therefore, the split should be done exactly before the word which would have been splitted otherwise at each case.

Otherwise, I would have this:

false_strings = ['I am a str', 'ing in pyt', 'hon']

Just to mention that in my case I want to do this every 15k characters but I gave the example above for every 10 characters so that it could be written in a concise way here.

What is the most efficient way to do this?

What happens if a single word is greater than 10 characters long? — Sash Sinha, Jun 18 '19 at 17:03
@shash678, thank you for your question. I answered it at my edited post. — Outcast, Jun 18 '19 at 17:05
`textwrap.wrap(orig_string, 10)` *almost* does what you want; the only difference is that is removes the space on which the original string gets split, returning `['I am a', 'string in', 'python']`. — chepner, Jun 18 '19 at 17:06
@chepner, yes I do not necessarily care about these specific whitespaces. — Outcast, Jun 18 '19 at 17:08
@PoeteMaudit: if you really care about whitespaces, I don't think the accepted answer answers that. — Austin, Jun 18 '19 at 17:16
@Austin thanks for the remark but I actually think that I do not. — Outcast, Jun 18 '19 at 17:18
Fair enough. I read your previous comment without *"not"* part. — Austin, Jun 18 '19 at 17:21
Well, you could use `false_strings = [orig_string[y - x:y] for y in range(x, len(orig_string) + x, x)]` determining that `x= 10` the output is `['I am a str', 'ing in pyt', 'hon']` — Xavi Martínez, Jun 18 '19 at 20:22

Andrej Kesely · Accepted Answer · 2019-06-18T17:09:58.110

9

You can use built-in textwrap.wrap function (doc):

orig_string = 'I am a string in python'

from textwrap import wrap

print(wrap(orig_string, 10))

Prints:

['I am a', 'string in', 'python']

edited Jun 18 '19 at 17:09

answered Jun 18 '19 at 17:08

Andrej Kesely

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when 2 people have already suggested this in the comments is it good *etiquette* to write an answer? – Chris_Rands Jun 18 '19 at 17:09
I didn't check the comments. It just popped up from my head (because I use it casi every day) – Andrej Kesely Jun 18 '19 at 17:10
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I wrote it in comments because I can't write a full answer right now. So it's ok for me – Olivier Melançon Jun 18 '19 at 17:11
@OlivierMelançon yah i don't have a strong view, i'd probably make the answer "community wiki" in this case – Chris_Rands Jun 18 '19 at 17:12
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I ready don't mind as long as we end up with a quality answer on top – Olivier Melançon Jun 18 '19 at 17:14
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@Chris_Rands I don't think this is a misstep in *etiquette*. Answers belong in the answer section where they can be voted on and selected. – Mark Jun 18 '19 at 17:15
@Chris_Rands: It's very important to post answers as actual answers, even if comments may have already mentioned them. I came here via the search engine. Both SO and Google search engines will only find questions and answers, they ignore comments. If you search on `[python] split n characters textwrap` it'll find the answer. (The etiquette of which user deserves rep is separate issue.) – smci Jan 03 '20 at 13:46

Split string every n characters but without splitting a word

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