In Python 2.6, How Might You Pass a List Object to a Method Which Expects A List of Arguments?

Question

I have a list full of various bits of information that I would like to pass to several strings for inclusion via the new string format method. As a toy example, let us define

thelist = ['a', 'b', 'c']

I would like to do a print statement like print '{0} {2}'.format(thelist) and print '{1} {2}'.format(thelist)

When I run this, I receive the message IndexError: tuple index out of range; when mucking about, it clearly takes the whole list as a single object. I would, of course, rather it translate thelist to 'a', 'b', 'c'.

I tried using a tuple and received the same error.

What on Earth is this particular technique called? If I knew the name, I could have searched for it. "Expand" is clearly not it. "Explode" doesn't yield anything useful.

My actual use is much longer and more tedious than the toy example.

Answer 1

'{0} {2}'.format(*thelist)

docs

Answer 2

.format(*thelist)

It's part of the calling syntax in Python. I don't know the name either, and I'm not convinced it has one. See the tutorial.

It doesn't just work on lists, though, it works for any iterable object.