Using multiple arguments for string formatting in Python (e.g., '%s … %s')

Question

I have a string that looks like \'%s in %s\' and I want to know how to seperate the arguments so that they are two different %s. My mind coming from Java came u

Answer 1

If you're using more than one argument it has to be in a tuple (note the extra parentheses):

'%s in %s' % (unicode(self.author),  unicode(self.publication))

As EOL points out, the unicode() function usually assumes ascii encoding as a default, so if you have non-ASCII characters, it's safer to explicitly pass the encoding:

'%s in %s' % (unicode(self.author,'utf-8'),  unicode(self.publication('utf-8')))

And as of Python 3.0, it's preferred to use the str.format() syntax instead:

'{0} in {1}'.format(unicode(self.author,'utf-8'),unicode(self.publication,'utf-8'))