Python - Regex not replacing directory strings [duplicate]

Question

I'm using the following function to remove a specific string pattern from files in a directory:

import os
for filename in os.listdir(path):
   os.rename(filename, filename.replace(r'^[A-Z]\d\d\s-\s[A-Z]\d\d\s-\s$', ''))

The pattern is as follows, where A is any capital letter, and # is any number between 0-9:

A## - A## -

My regex matches this format on regex101. When I run the above function, it completes without error, however no directory names change. Where am I going wrong?

Answer 1

replace string method does not support regular expressions.

You need to import the re module and use its sub method.

So your code might look like this:

import os
import re
for filename in os.listdir(path):
   os.rename(filename, re.sub(r'^[A-Z]\d\d\s-\s[A-Z]\d\d\s-\s', '', filename))

But don't forget about flags and such.

Edit: Removed $ from the pattern as the filenames don't end there.

Answer 2

import re
filename='A11 - A22 - '#A## - A## -
re.sub(filename,r'^[A-Z]\d\d\s-\s[A-Z]\d\d\s-\s', '')