python - How to split strings inside a list by given delimiter and flatten the sub-strings lists

Question

I have a python script with this list:

blocks = [
  "item-1",
  "item-2",
  "item-3.0;item-3.1;item-3.2"
]

I have tried this:

for (i, block) in enumerate(blocks):
  if ";" in block:
    [blocks.insert(i, c) for c in block.split(";")]
  else:
    blocks.insert(i, block)

To get this:

blocks = [
  "item-1",
  "item-2",
  "item-3.0",
  "item-3.1",
  "item-3.2"
]

Unfortunately my code keeps overwriting the the elements in the list, and I'm left with this:

blocks = [
  "item-1",
  "item-2",
  "item-3.2"
]

How can I modify the script to allow me to split a string inside of a list and then insert the new sub-strings into the position of the original string without overwriting the other elements in the list?

Answer 1

split will return a list, you don't need to check if ';' is in the block:

In [34]: [ii.split(';') for ii in blocks]
Out[34]: [['item-1'], ['item-2'], ['item-3.0', 'item-3.1', 'item-3.2']]

So now the only thing you need is to add all the list together, with the function sum.

sum( [ii.split(';') for ii in blocks] ,  [])