python - partial string formatting

Question

Is it possible to do partial string formatting with the advanced string formatting methods, similar to the string template safe_substitute() function?

For example:

s = '{foo} {bar}'
s.format(foo='FOO') #Problem: raises KeyError 'bar'

Answer 1

If you know in what order you're formatting things:

s = '{foo} {{bar}}'

Use it like this:

ss = s.format(foo='FOO') 
print ss 
>>> 'FOO {bar}'

print ss.format(bar='BAR')
>>> 'FOO BAR'

You can't specify foo and bar at the same time - you have to do it sequentially.