A python substitute for PHP strip

A python substitute for PHP strip_tags()

Blog A python substitute for PHP strip_tags()
Posted on Jun 8, 2012 by Caleb Thorne

Sometimes it is necessary to remove all (or some subset of) xml style tags (eg. <p></p>) from a string. If you’re familiar with PHP, then you probably already know about the strip_tags() function. Here is a simple equivalent to strip_tags() written in Python.

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27 ## Remove xml style tags from an input string.
#
#  @param string The input string.
#  @param allowed_tags A string to specify tags which should not be removed.
def strip_tags(string, allowed_tags=''):
  if allowed_tags != '':
    # Get a list of all allowed tag names.
    allowed_tags_list = re.sub(r'[\\/<> ]+', '', allowed_tags).split(',')
    allowed_pattern = ''
    for s in allowed_tags_list:
      if s == '':
       continue;
      # Add all possible patterns for this tag to the regex.
      if allowed_pattern != '':
        allowed_pattern += '|'
      allowed_pattern += '<' + s + ' [^><]*>$|<' + s + '>|'
    # Get all tags included in the string.
    all_tags = re.findall(r'<]+>', string, re.I)
    for tag in all_tags:
      # If not allowed, replace it.
      if not re.match(allowed_pattern, tag, re.I):
        string = string.replace(tag, '')
  else:
    # If no allowed tags, remove all.
    string = re.sub(r'<[^>]*?>', '', string)
 
  return string

Sample output

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7 >>> strip_tags('<b>Hello</b> <i>World!</i> <hr />')
'Hello World! '
>>> strip_tags('<b>Hello</b> <i>World!</i> <hr />', '<b>')
'<b>Hello</b> World!'
>>> strip_tags('<b>Hello</b> <i>World!</i> <hr />', '<b>,<hr>')
'<b>Hello</b> World! <hr />'
>>>