Python 3: `netloc` value in `urllib.parse` is empty if URL doesn't have `//`

Question

I notice that netloc is empty if the URL doesn\'t have //.

Without //, netloc is empty

Answer 1

Would it be possible to identify netloc correctly even if // not provided in the URL?

Not by using urlparse. This is explicitly explained in the documentation:

Following the syntax specifications in RFC 1808, urlparse recognizes a netloc only if it is properly introduced by //. Otherwise the input is presumed to be a relative URL and thus to start with a path component.

If you don't want to rewrite urlparse's logic (which I would not suggest), make sure url starts with //:

if not url.startswith('//'):
    url = '//' + url

EDIT

The above is actually a bad solution as @alexis noted. Perhaps

if not (url.startswith('//') or url.startswith('http://') or url.startswith('https://')):
    url = '//' + url

But your mileage may very with that solution as well. If you have to support a wide variety of inconsistent formats you may have to resort to regex.