How to sort a list of strings on a substring

[Scott]

I create a list of logs called LogList. Here is a sample:

LogList =
["inbound tcp office 192.168.0.125 inside 10.1.0.91 88",
"inbound tcp office 192.168.0.220 inside 10.1.0.31 2967",
"inbound udp lab 172.24.0.110 inside 10.1.0.6 161",
"inbound udp office 192.168.0.220 inside 10.1.0.13 53"]

I want to sort the list on index 3 of each string - the first IP
Address.

I only need strings with similar, first IP's to be together. I don't
need all of the IP's to be in order. For example:
either:
SortedList =
["inbound udp lab 172.24.0.110 inside 10.1.0.6 161",
"inbound tcp office 192.168.0.220 inside 10.1.0.31 2967",
"inbound udp office 192.168.0.220 inside 10.1.0.13 53",
"inbound tcp office 192.168.0.125 inside 10.1.0.91 88"]
-or-
SortedList =
["inbound tcp office 192.168.0.220 inside 10.1.0.31 2967",
"inbound udp office 192.168.0.220 inside 10.1.0.13 53",
"inbound udp lab 172.24.0.110 inside 10.1.0.6 161",
"inbound tcp office 192.168.0.125 inside 10.1.0.91 88"]
-or-
etc.

would be fine.

I'm reading a lot on sort, sorted, cmp, etc. but I'm just not getting
how to use an element of a string as a "key" within a list of strings.
I'm using Python 2.6.2.

Thanks

 

[n00m]

Here you are:

LogList = [\
"inbound tcp office 192.168.0.125 inside 10.1.0.91 88",
"inbound tcp office 192.168.0.220 inside 10.1.0.31 2967",
"inbound udp lab 172.24.0.110 inside 10.1.0.6 161",
"inbound udp office 192.168.0.220 inside 10.1.0.13 53"]


LogList.sort(key=lambda x: x[x.index('1'):])

for item in LogList:
print item

===========================================================

inbound udp lab 172.24.0.110 inside 10.1.0.6 161
inbound tcp office 192.168.0.125 inside 10.1.0.91 88
inbound udp office 192.168.0.220 inside 10.1.0.13 53
inbound tcp office 192.168.0.220 inside 10.1.0.31 2967

 

[MRAB]

I create a list of logs called LogList. Here is a sample:

LogList =
["inbound tcp office 192.168.0.125 inside 10.1.0.91 88",
"inbound tcp office 192.168.0.220 inside 10.1.0.31 2967",
"inbound udp lab 172.24.0.110 inside 10.1.0.6 161",
"inbound udp office 192.168.0.220 inside 10.1.0.13 53"]

I want to sort the list on index 3 of each string - the first IP
Address.

I only need strings with similar, first IP's to be together. I don't
need all of the IP's to be in order. For example:
either:
SortedList =
["inbound udp lab 172.24.0.110 inside 10.1.0.6 161",
"inbound tcp office 192.168.0.220 inside 10.1.0.31 2967",
"inbound udp office 192.168.0.220 inside 10.1.0.13 53",
"inbound tcp office 192.168.0.125 inside 10.1.0.91 88"]
-or-
SortedList =
["inbound tcp office 192.168.0.220 inside 10.1.0.31 2967",
"inbound udp office 192.168.0.220 inside 10.1.0.13 53",
"inbound udp lab 172.24.0.110 inside 10.1.0.6 161",
"inbound tcp office 192.168.0.125 inside 10.1.0.91 88"]
-or-
etc.

would be fine.

I'm reading a lot on sort, sorted, cmp, etc. but I'm just not getting
how to use an element of a string as a "key" within a list of strings.
I'm using Python 2.6.2.

Forget about cmp, just use the 'key' argument of the list's 'sort'
method or the 'sorted' function (the latter is better if you want to
keep the original list). The 'key' argument expects a function (anything
callable, actually) that accepts a single argument (the item) and
returns a value to be used as the key, and the items will be sorted
according to that key. In this case you want the items sorted by the
fourth 'word', so split the item into words and return the one at index
3:

def key_word(item):
return item.split()[3]

SortedList = sorted(LogList, key=key_word)

If the function is short and simple enough, lambda is often used instead
of a named function:

SortedList = sorted(LogList, key=lambda item: item.split()[3])

 

[Steven D'Aprano]

Here you are:

LogList = [\
"inbound tcp office 192.168.0.125 inside 10.1.0.91 88", "inbound tcp
office 192.168.0.220 inside 10.1.0.31 2967", "inbound udp lab
172.24.0.110 inside 10.1.0.6 161", "inbound udp office 192.168.0.220
inside 10.1.0.13 53"]


LogList.sort(key=lambda x: x[x.index('1'):])

No, that's incorrect. Try it with this data and you will see it fails:


LogList = [
"inbound tcp office1 192.168.0.125 inside 10.1.0.91 88",
"inbound tcp office2 192.168.0.220 inside 10.1.0.31 2967",
"inbound udp lab1 172.24.0.110 inside 10.1.0.6 161",
"inbound udp office2 192.168.0.220 inside 10.1.0.13 53",
"inbound udp lab2 172.24.0.121 inside 10.1.0.6 161",
"inbound udp webby 220.96.0.2 inside 20.2.0.9 54",
]


Worse, if you delete the last item ("webby"), the code silently does the
wrong thing. Code that crashes is bad, but code that silently does the
wrong thing is a nightmare. Your test succeeded by accident -- it was a
fluke of the data that you failed to see both failure modes.

The question asked was how to sort the list according to item 3 of the
strings, *not* how to sort the list according to the first character '1'.
The way to solve this correctly is by extracting item 3 and sorting on
that, not by searching for the first character '1'. That is a hack[1]
that just happened to work for the specific test data you tried it on.




[1] Hack in the bad sense, not in the good sense.

 

[n00m]

No, that's incorrect. Try it with this data and you will see it fails:

Of course, you are right, but I think the topic-starter is smart
enough
to understand that I suggested only a hint, a sketch, a sample of how
to use "key=" with "lambda", not a ready-to-apply solution.

 

[Steven D'Aprano]

Of course, you are right, but I think the topic-starter is smart enough
to understand that I suggested only a hint, a sketch, a sample of how to
use "key=" with "lambda", not a ready-to-apply solution.

Oh please. That's a ridiculous excuse. Your post started with "Here you
are" -- the implication is that you thought it *was* a solution, not a
hint. A hint would be something like "Write a key function, perhaps using
lambda, and pass it to the sort() method using the key parameter."

There's no shame at writing buggy code. There's not a person here who has
never made a silly mistake, and most of us have done so in public too.
Some real clangers too. What matters is how folks respond to having the
their mistakes pointed out, and whether they learn from it.

 

[n00m]

English language is not my mother toung,
so I can't grasp many subtle nuances of it.
Maybe "here you are" means to me quite a
different thing than to you.

 

[Scott]

I create a list of logs called LogList. Here is a sample:

LogList =
["inbound tcp office 192.168.0.125 inside 10.1.0.91 88",
"inbound tcp office 192.168.0.220 inside 10.1.0.31 2967",
"inbound udp lab 172.24.0.110 inside 10.1.0.6 161",
"inbound udp office 192.168.0.220 inside 10.1.0.13 53"]

I want to sort the list on index 3 of each string - the first IP
Address.

I only need strings with similar, first IP's to be together. I don't
need all of the IP's to be in order. For example:
either:
SortedList =
["inbound udp lab 172.24.0.110 inside 10.1.0.6 161",
"inbound tcp office 192.168.0.220 inside 10.1.0.31 2967",
"inbound udp office 192.168.0.220 inside 10.1.0.13 53",
"inbound tcp office 192.168.0.125 inside 10.1.0.91 88"]
-or-
SortedList =
["inbound tcp office 192.168.0.220 inside 10.1.0.31 2967",
"inbound udp office 192.168.0.220 inside 10.1.0.13 53",
"inbound udp lab 172.24.0.110 inside 10.1.0.6 161",
"inbound tcp office 192.168.0.125 inside 10.1.0.91 88"]
-or-
etc.

would be fine.

I'm reading a lot on sort, sorted, cmp, etc. but I'm just not getting
how to use an element of a string as a "key" within a list of strings.
I'm using Python 2.6.2.

Forget about cmp, just use the 'key' argument of the list's 'sort'
method or the 'sorted' function (the latter is better if you want to
keep the original list). The 'key' argument expects a function (anything
callable, actually) that accepts a single argument (the item) and
returns a value to be used as the key, and the items will be sorted
according to that key. In this case you want the items sorted by the
fourth 'word', so split the item into words and return the one at index
3:

def key_word(item):
     return item.split()[3]

SortedList = sorted(LogList, key=key_word)

If the function is short and simple enough, lambda is often used instead
of a named function:

SortedList = sorted(LogList, key=lambda item: item.split()[3])

Ok, the lambda worked as advertised. THANK YOU!!

Thanks for giving both a def and lambda example. I'll be saving them.
-Scott

 

[alex23]

Oh please. That's a ridiculous excuse. Your post started with "Here you
are" -- the implication is that you thought it *was* a solution, not a
hint. A hint would be something like "Write a key function, perhaps using
lambda, and pass it to the sort() method using the key parameter."

In n00m's defense, the OP's question was "I'm just not getting how to
use an element of a string as a "key" within a list of strings", which
n00m's post did answer, and which did work with the data set given. If
Scott had asked "could someone show me how to do this", then yes, the
"here you are" would have been wrong.

Ah, semantics and the lack of expression in text

 

[Steven D'Aprano]

English language is not my mother toung, so I can't grasp many subtle
nuances of it. Maybe "here you are" means to me quite a different thing
than to you.

It means "here is the thing you were looking for". Anyway, nothing I
wrote was meant as an attack on you.

 

[n00m]

In my early teen, school years "Let It Be" by The Beatles sounded for
my
ears (incredibly clearly and obviously!) as "Lia Ri Pip".
In school I studied French, English only many years later.

My inner translation of "Here you are!" is smth like
"Catch it!", "Take it!", "Look at this!" etc