Python: most idiomatic way to convert None to empty string?
StringPythonIdiomsString Problem Overview
What is the most idiomatic way to do the following?
def xstr(s):
if s is None:
return ''
else:
return s
s = xstr(a) + xstr(b)
update: I'm incorporating Tryptich's suggestion to use str(s), which makes this routine work for other types besides strings. I'm awfully impressed by Vinay Sajip's lambda suggestion, but I want to keep my code relatively simple.
def xstr(s):
if s is None:
return ''
else:
return str(s)
String Solutions
Solution 1 - String
Probably the shortest would be
str(s or '')
Because None is False, and "x or y" returns y if x is false. See Boolean Operators for a detailed explanation. It's short, but not very explicit.
Solution 2 - String
def xstr(s):
return '' if s is None else str(s)
Solution 3 - String
If you actually want your function to behave like the str()
built-in, but return an empty string when the argument is None, do this:
def xstr(s):
if s is None:
return ''
return str(s)
Solution 4 - String
If you know that the value will always either be a string or None:
xstr = lambda s: s or ""
print xstr("a") + xstr("b") # -> 'ab'
print xstr("a") + xstr(None) # -> 'a'
print xstr(None) + xstr("b") # -> 'b'
print xstr(None) + xstr(None) # -> ''
Solution 5 - String
return s or ''
will work just fine for your stated problem!
Solution 6 - String
def xstr(s):
return s or ""
Solution 7 - String
Functional way (one-liner)
xstr = lambda s: '' if s is None else s
Solution 8 - String
A neat one-liner to do this building on some of the other answers:
s = (lambda v: v or '')(a) + (lambda v: v or '')(b)
or even just:
s = (a or '') + (b or '')
Solution 9 - String
UPDATE:
I mainly use this method now:
some_string = None
some_string or ''
If some_string was not NoneType
, the or
would short circuit there and return it, otherwise it returns the empty string.
OLD:
Max function worked in python 2.x but not in 3.x:
max(None, '') # Returns blank
max("Hello", '') # Returns Hello
Solution 10 - String
def xstr(s):
return {None:''}.get(s, s)
Solution 11 - String
Variation on the above if you need to be compatible with Python 2.4
xstr = lambda s: s is not None and s or ''
Solution 12 - String
If it is about formatting strings, you can do the following:
from string import Formatter
class NoneAsEmptyFormatter(Formatter):
def get_value(self, key, args, kwargs):
v = super().get_value(key, args, kwargs)
return '' if v is None else v
fmt = NoneAsEmptyFormatter()
s = fmt.format('{}{}', a, b)
Solution 13 - String
def xstr(s):
return s if s else ''
s = "%s%s" % (xstr(a), xstr(b))
Solution 14 - String
We can always avoid type casting in scenarios explained below.
customer = "John"
name = str(customer)
if name is None
print "Name is blank"
else:
print "Customer name : " + name
In the example above in case variable customer's value is None the it further gets casting while getting assigned to 'name'. The comparison in 'if' clause will always fail.
customer = "John" # even though its None still it will work properly.
name = customer
if name is None
print "Name is blank"
else:
print "Customer name : " + str(name)
Above example will work properly. Such scenarios are very common when values are being fetched from URL, JSON or XML or even values need further type casting for any manipulation.
Solution 15 - String
Use short circuit evaluation:
s = a or '' + b or ''
Since + is not a very good operation on strings, better use format strings:
s = "%s%s" % (a or '', b or '')
Solution 16 - String
Use F string if you are using python v3.7
xstr = F"{s}"