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Python Python Collections (2016, retired 2019) Dictionaries String Formatting with Dictionaries

Posted by Hwang Ju
Hwang Ju
2,847 Points

string_factory help I am still getting errors and I do not know why..

Let's test unpacking dictionaries in keyword arguments. You've used the string .format() method before to fill in blank placeholders. If you give the placeholder a name, though, like in template below, you fill it in through keyword arguments to .format(), like this: template.format(name="Kenneth", food="tacos") Write a function named string_factory that accepts a list of dictionaries as an argument. Return a new list of strings made by using ** for each dictionary in the list and the template string provided.

string_factory.py 
dicts = [
    {'name': 'Michelangelo',
     'food': 'PIZZA'},
    {'name': 'Garfield',
     'food': 'lasanga'},
    {'name': 'Walter',
     'food': 'pancakes'},
    {'name': 'Galactus',
     'food': 'worlds'}
]
string = "Hi, I'm {name} and I love to eat {food}!"
def string_factory(dicts):
    result_list = []
    for item in dicts:
        result_list.append(string.format(**dicts))
    return result_list

9 Answers

William Li
PLUS
William Li
Courses Plus Student 26,868 Points
William Li
William Li
Courses Plus Student 26,868 Points

because item in your for loop is dictionary, dicts is not, it's a list of dictionaries. Therefore, string.format(**dicts) is wrong both syntactically & semantically, as you can't unpack a list using the ** notation.

Jennifer Nordell
seal-mask
STAFF
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Jennifer Nordell
Treehouse Teacher
Jennifer Nordell
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Jennifer Nordell
Treehouse Teacher

Hi there! You're so close here! So I'm just going to give some hints.

  • You're trying to format the string with the list of dictionaries
  • Try formatting the string with the current item in the list

Hope this helps, but let me know if you're still stuck! :sparkles:

edited for accuracy

Hwang Ju
Hwang Ju
2,847 Points

Thank you it worked!! BUT I'm still having a hard time understanding why that worked. Could you please explain?

Wilson Usman
Wilson Usman
35,206 Points
Wilson Usman
Wilson Usman
35,206 Points

Make sure the indentation is correct, here's what I did:

def string_factory(values):
    result_list = []
    for item in values:
        result_list.append(template.format(**item))
    return result_list
Xayaseth Boudsady
Xayaseth Boudsady
21,951 Points
Xayaseth Boudsady
Xayaseth Boudsady
21,951 Points

Here's a simpler way based on the video.

def favorite_food(dict):
    return "Hi, I'm {name} and I love to eat {food}!".format(**dict)

Just use the ** (asterisk) to unpack your dictionary into those template.

Hwang Ju
Hwang Ju
2,847 Points
Hwang Ju
Hwang Ju
2,847 Points

Thank you very much! Happy holidays!

Jerimiah Willhite
Jerimiah Willhite
12,014 Points
Jerimiah Willhite
Jerimiah Willhite
12,014 Points

Hi! I'm very slowly understanding dictionaries, but not quite getting it. Here's my code: 

# Example:
# values = [{"name": "Michelangelo", "food": "PIZZA"}, {"name": "Garfield", "food": "lasagna"}]
# string_factory(values)
# ["Hi, I'm Michelangelo and I love to eat PIZZA!", "Hi, I'm Garfield and I love to eat lasagna!"]

values = [{"name": "Michelangelo", "food": "PIZZA"}, {"name": "Garfield", "food": "lasagna"}, {"name": "Kenneth", "food":"tacos"}]
template = "Hi, I'm {name} and I love to eat {food}!"


def string_factory(values):
    result_list = []
    for item in values:
        result_list.append(template.format(**item))
        return result_list

The error I'm getting is : Bummer! Didn't get all of the expected output from string_factory(). I'm not sure what's going on that I'm doing wrong. Can anyone help?

Nafeez Quraishi
Nafeez Quraishi
12,416 Points

Hi! you seem to returning within for loop, please try correcting the indentation to return to the function

Tinotenda Muyengwa
Tinotenda Muyengwa
3,464 Points
Tinotenda Muyengwa
Tinotenda Muyengwa
3,464 Points

string_factory = {"name": "tinomac", "food": "sadza"} """Hi, I'm { } and I love to eat { }!""".format(**string_factory) help guys

john larson
john larson
16,594 Points

Tinotenda, did you ever get this one figured out?

Brecht Philips
Brecht Philips
8,863 Points
Brecht Philips
Brecht Philips
8,863 Points

hi here is my code challenge with more explainable names template = "Hi, I'm {name} and I love to eat {food}!"

def string_factory(list_of_dictionaries): result_list = []
for dictionary in list_of_dictionaries: result_list.append(template.format(**dictionary)) return result_list

john larson
john larson
16,594 Points

Nice :D

Kafe Hezam
Kafe Hezam
11,070 Points
Kafe Hezam
Kafe Hezam
11,070 Points

Short answer:

def string_factory(iterable): new_list = [template.format(**item) for item in iterable] return new_list