Replace multiple characters in a string

Question

Is there a simple way in python to replace multiples characters by another?

For instance, I would like to change:

name1_22:3-3(+):Pos_bos 
         


        

Answer 1

Use a translation table. In Python 2, maketrans is defined in the string module.

>>> import string
>>> table = string.maketrans("():", "___")

In Python 3, it is a str class method.

>>> table = str.maketrans("():", "___")

In both, the table is passed as the argument to str.translate.

>>> 'name1_22:3-3(+):Pos_bos'.translate(table)
'name1_22_3-3_+__Pos_bos'

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In Python 3, you can also pass a single dict mapping input characters to output characters to maketrans:

table = str.maketrans({"(": "_", ")": "_", ":": "_"})