We Keep Coding

how to replace a comma in python, which is pressed to the letter [duplicate]

I'm trying to remove specific characters from a string using Python. This is the code I'm using right now. Unfortunately it appears to do nothing to the string.
for char in line:
if char in " ?.!/;:":
line.replace(char,'')
How do I do this properly?

Strings in Python are immutable (can't be changed). Because of this, the effect of line.replace(...) is just to create a new string, rather than changing the old one. You need to rebind (assign) it to line in order to have that variable take the new value, with those characters removed.
Also, the way you are doing it is going to be kind of slow, relatively. It's also likely to be a bit confusing to experienced pythonators, who will see a doubly-nested structure and think for a moment that something more complicated is going on.
Starting in Python 2.6 and newer Python 2.x versions *, you can instead use str.translate, (see Python 3 answer below):
line = line.translate(None, '!##$')
or regular expression replacement with re.sub
import re
line = re.sub('[!##$]', '', line)
The characters enclosed in brackets constitute a character class. Any characters in line which are in that class are replaced with the second parameter to sub: an empty string.
Python 3 answer
In Python 3, strings are Unicode. You'll have to translate a little differently. kevpie mentions this in a comment on one of the answers, and it's noted in the documentation for str.translate.
When calling the translate method of a Unicode string, you cannot pass the second parameter that we used above. You also can't pass None as the first parameter. Instead, you pass a translation table (usually a dictionary) as the only parameter. This table maps the ordinal values of characters (i.e. the result of calling ord on them) to the ordinal values of the characters which should replace them, or—usefully to us—None to indicate that they should be deleted.
So to do the above dance with a Unicode string you would call something like
translation_table = dict.fromkeys(map(ord, '!##$'), None)
unicode_line = unicode_line.translate(translation_table)
Here dict.fromkeys and map are used to succinctly generate a dictionary containing
{ord('!'): None, ord('#'): None, ...}
Even simpler, as another answer puts it, create the translation table in place:
unicode_line = unicode_line.translate({ord(c): None for c in '!##$'})
Or, as brought up by Joseph Lee, create the same translation table with str.maketrans:
unicode_line = unicode_line.translate(str.maketrans('', '', '!##$'))
* for compatibility with earlier Pythons, you can create a "null" translation table to pass in place of None:
import string
line = line.translate(string.maketrans('', ''), '!##$')
Here string.maketrans is used to create a translation table, which is just a string containing the characters with ordinal values 0 to 255.

Am I missing the point here, or is it just the following:
string = "ab1cd1ef"
string = string.replace("1", "")
print(string)
# result: "abcdef"
Put it in a loop:
a = "a!b#c#d$"
b = "!##$"
for char in b:
a = a.replace(char, "")
print(a)
# result: "abcd"

>>> line = "abc##!?efg12;:?"
>>> ''.join( c for c in line if c not in '?:!/;' )
'abc##efg12'

With re.sub regular expression
Since Python 3.5, substitution using regular expressions re.sub became available:
import re
re.sub('\ |\?|\.|\!|\/|\;|\:', '', line)
Example
import re
line = 'Q: Do I write ;/.??? No!!!'
re.sub('\ |\?|\.|\!|\/|\;|\:', '', line)
'QDoIwriteNo'
Explanation
In regular expressions (regex), | is a logical OR and \ escapes spaces and special characters that might be actual regex commands. Whereas sub stands for substitution, in this case with the empty string ''.

The asker almost had it. Like most things in Python, the answer is simpler than you think.
>>> line = "H E?.LL!/;O:: "
>>> for char in ' ?.!/;:':
... line = line.replace(char,'')
...
>>> print line
HELLO
You don't have to do the nested if/for loop thing, but you DO need to check each character individually.

For the inverse requirement of only allowing certain characters in a string, you can use regular expressions with a set complement operator [^ABCabc]. For example, to remove everything except ascii letters, digits, and the hyphen:
>>> import string
>>> import re
>>>
>>> phrase = ' There were "nine" (9) chick-peas in my pocket!!! '
>>> allow = string.letters + string.digits + '-'
>>> re.sub('[^%s]' % allow, '', phrase)
'Therewerenine9chick-peasinmypocket'
From the python regular expression documentation:
Characters that are not within a range can be matched by complementing
the set. If the first character of the set is '^', all the characters
that are not in the set will be matched. For example, [^5] will match
any character except '5', and [^^] will match any character except
'^'. ^ has no special meaning if it’s not the first character in the
set.

line = line.translate(None, " ?.!/;:")

>>> s = 'a1b2c3'
>>> ''.join(c for c in s if c not in '123')
'abc'

Strings are immutable in Python. The replace method returns a new string after the replacement. Try:
for char in line:
if char in " ?.!/;:":
line = line.replace(char,'')
This is identical to your original code, with the addition of an assignment to line inside the loop.
Note that the string replace() method replaces all of the occurrences of the character in the string, so you can do better by using replace() for each character you want to remove, instead of looping over each character in your string.

I was surprised that no one had yet recommended using the builtin filter function.
import operator
import string # only for the example you could use a custom string
s = "1212edjaq"
Say we want to filter out everything that isn't a number. Using the filter builtin method "...is equivalent to the generator expression (item for item in iterable if function(item))" [Python 3 Builtins: Filter]
sList = list(s)
intsList = list(string.digits)
obj = filter(lambda x: operator.contains(intsList, x), sList)))
In Python 3 this returns
>> <filter object # hex>
To get a printed string,
nums = "".join(list(obj))
print(nums)
>> "1212"
I am not sure how filter ranks in terms of efficiency but it is a good thing to know how to use when doing list comprehensions and such.
UPDATE
Logically, since filter works you could also use list comprehension and from what I have read it is supposed to be more efficient because lambdas are the wall street hedge fund managers of the programming function world. Another plus is that it is a one-liner that doesnt require any imports. For example, using the same string 's' defined above,
num = "".join([i for i in s if i.isdigit()])
That's it. The return will be a string of all the characters that are digits in the original string.
If you have a specific list of acceptable/unacceptable characters you need only adjust the 'if' part of the list comprehension.
target_chars = "".join([i for i in s if i in some_list])
or alternatively,
target_chars = "".join([i for i in s if i not in some_list])

Using filter, you'd just need one line
line = filter(lambda char: char not in " ?.!/;:", line)
This treats the string as an iterable and checks every character if the lambda returns True:
>>> help(filter)
Help on built-in function filter in module __builtin__:
filter(...)
filter(function or None, sequence) -> list, tuple, or string
Return those items of sequence for which function(item) is true. If
function is None, return the items that are true. If sequence is a tuple
or string, return the same type, else return a list.

Try this one:
def rm_char(original_str, need2rm):
''' Remove charecters in "need2rm" from "original_str" '''
return original_str.translate(str.maketrans('','',need2rm))
This method works well in Python 3

Here's some possible ways to achieve this task:
def attempt1(string):
return "".join([v for v in string if v not in ("a", "e", "i", "o", "u")])
def attempt2(string):
for v in ("a", "e", "i", "o", "u"):
string = string.replace(v, "")
return string
def attempt3(string):
import re
for v in ("a", "e", "i", "o", "u"):
string = re.sub(v, "", string)
return string
def attempt4(string):
return string.replace("a", "").replace("e", "").replace("i", "").replace("o", "").replace("u", "")
for attempt in [attempt1, attempt2, attempt3, attempt4]:
print(attempt("murcielago"))
PS: Instead using " ?.!/;:" the examples use the vowels... and yeah, "murcielago" is the Spanish word to say bat... funny word as it contains all the vowels :)
PS2: If you're interested on performance you could measure these attempts with a simple code like:
import timeit
K = 1000000
for i in range(1,5):
t = timeit.Timer(
f"attempt{i}('murcielago')",
setup=f"from __main__ import attempt{i}"
).repeat(1, K)
print(f"attempt{i}",min(t))
In my box you'd get:
attempt1 2.2334518376057244
attempt2 1.8806643818474513
attempt3 7.214925774955572
attempt4 1.7271184513757465
So it seems attempt4 is the fastest one for this particular input.

Here's my Python 2/3 compatible version. Since the translate api has changed.
def remove(str_, chars):
"""Removes each char in `chars` from `str_`.
Args:
str_: String to remove characters from
chars: String of to-be removed characters
Returns:
A copy of str_ with `chars` removed
Example:
remove("What?!?: darn;", " ?.!:;") => 'Whatdarn'
"""
try:
# Python2.x
return str_.translate(None, chars)
except TypeError:
# Python 3.x
table = {ord(char): None for char in chars}
return str_.translate(table)

#!/usr/bin/python
import re
strs = "how^ much for{} the maple syrup? $20.99? That's[] ricidulous!!!"
print strs
nstr = re.sub(r'[?|$|.|!|a|b]',r' ',strs)#i have taken special character to remove but any #character can be added here
print nstr
nestr = re.sub(r'[^a-zA-Z0-9 ]',r'',nstr)#for removing special character
print nestr

You can also use a function in order to substitute different kind of regular expression or other pattern with the use of a list. With that, you can mixed regular expression, character class, and really basic text pattern. It's really useful when you need to substitute a lot of elements like HTML ones.
*NB: works with Python 3.x
import re # Regular expression library
def string_cleanup(x, notwanted):
for item in notwanted:
x = re.sub(item, '', x)
return x
line = "<title>My example: <strong>A text %very% $clean!!</strong></title>"
print("Uncleaned: ", line)
# Get rid of html elements
html_elements = ["<title>", "</title>", "<strong>", "</strong>"]
line = string_cleanup(line, html_elements)
print("1st clean: ", line)
# Get rid of special characters
special_chars = ["[!##$]", "%"]
line = string_cleanup(line, special_chars)
print("2nd clean: ", line)
In the function string_cleanup, it takes your string x and your list notwanted as arguments. For each item in that list of elements or pattern, if a substitute is needed it will be done.
The output:
Uncleaned: <title>My example: <strong>A text %very% $clean!!</strong></title>
1st clean: My example: A text %very% $clean!!
2nd clean: My example: A text very clean

My method I'd use probably wouldn't work as efficiently, but it is massively simple. I can remove multiple characters at different positions all at once, using slicing and formatting.
Here's an example:
words = "things"
removed = "%s%s" % (words[:3], words[-1:])
This will result in 'removed' holding the word 'this'.
Formatting can be very helpful for printing variables midway through a print string. It can insert any data type using a % followed by the variable's data type; all data types can use %s, and floats (aka decimals) and integers can use %d.
Slicing can be used for intricate control over strings. When I put words[:3], it allows me to select all the characters in the string from the beginning (the colon is before the number, this will mean 'from the beginning to') to the 4th character (it includes the 4th character). The reason 3 equals till the 4th position is because Python starts at 0. Then, when I put word[-1:], it means the 2nd last character to the end (the colon is behind the number). Putting -1 will make Python count from the last character, rather than the first. Again, Python will start at 0. So, word[-1:] basically means 'from the second last character to the end of the string.
So, by cutting off the characters before the character I want to remove and the characters after and sandwiching them together, I can remove the unwanted character. Think of it like a sausage. In the middle it's dirty, so I want to get rid of it. I simply cut off the two ends I want then put them together without the unwanted part in the middle.
If I want to remove multiple consecutive characters, I simply shift the numbers around in the [] (slicing part). Or if I want to remove multiple characters from different positions, I can simply sandwich together multiple slices at once.
Examples:
words = "control"
removed = "%s%s" % (words[:2], words[-2:])
removed equals 'cool'.
words = "impacts"
removed = "%s%s%s" % (words[1], words[3:5], words[-1])
removed equals 'macs'.
In this case, [3:5] means character at position 3 through character at position 5 (excluding the character at the final position).
Remember, Python starts counting at 0, so you will need to as well.

In Python 3.5
e.g.,
os.rename(file_name, file_name.translate({ord(c): None for c in '0123456789'}))
To remove all the number from the string

How about this:
def text_cleanup(text):
new = ""
for i in text:
if i not in " ?.!/;:":
new += i
return new

Below one.. with out using regular expression concept..
ipstring ="text with symbols!##$^&*( ends here"
opstring=''
for i in ipstring:
if i.isalnum()==1 or i==' ':
opstring+=i
pass
print opstring

Recursive split:
s=string ; chars=chars to remove
def strip(s,chars):
if len(s)==1:
return "" if s in chars else s
return strip(s[0:int(len(s)/2)],chars) + strip(s[int(len(s)/2):len(s)],chars)
example:
print(strip("Hello!","lo")) #He!

You could use the re module's regular expression replacement. Using the ^ expression allows you to pick exactly what you want from your string.
import re
text = "This is absurd!"
text = re.sub("[^a-zA-Z]","",text) # Keeps only Alphabets
print(text)
Output to this would be "Thisisabsurd". Only things specified after the ^ symbol will appear.

# for each file on a directory, rename filename
file_list = os.listdir (r"D:\Dev\Python")
for file_name in file_list:
os.rename(file_name, re.sub(r'\d+','',file_name))

Even the below approach works
line = "a,b,c,d,e"
alpha = list(line)
while ',' in alpha:
alpha.remove(',')
finalString = ''.join(alpha)
print(finalString)
output: abcde

The string method replace does not modify the original string. It leaves the original alone and returns a modified copy.
What you want is something like: line = line.replace(char,'')
def replace_all(line, )for char in line:
if char in " ?.!/;:":
line = line.replace(char,'')
return line
However, creating a new string each and every time that a character is removed is very inefficient. I recommend the following instead:
def replace_all(line, baddies, *):
"""
The following is documentation on how to use the class,
without reference to the implementation details:
For implementation notes, please see comments begining with `#`
in the source file.
[*crickets chirp*]
"""
is_bad = lambda ch, baddies=baddies: return ch in baddies
filter_baddies = lambda ch, *, is_bad=is_bad: "" if is_bad(ch) else ch
mahp = replace_all.map(filter_baddies, line)
return replace_all.join('', join(mahp))
# -------------------------------------------------
# WHY `baddies=baddies`?!?
# `is_bad=is_bad`
# -------------------------------------------------
# Default arguments to a lambda function are evaluated
# at the same time as when a lambda function is
# **defined**.
#
# global variables of a lambda function
# are evaluated when the lambda function is
# **called**
#
# The following prints "as yellow as snow"
#
# fleece_color = "white"
# little_lamb = lambda end: return "as " + fleece_color + end
#
# # sometime later...
#
# fleece_color = "yellow"
# print(little_lamb(" as snow"))
# --------------------------------------------------
replace_all.map = map
replace_all.join = str.join

If you want your string to be just allowed characters by using ASCII codes, you can use this piece of code:
for char in s:
if ord(char) < 96 or ord(char) > 123:
s = s.replace(char, "")
It will remove all the characters beyond a....z even upper cases.

How to apply different groups of substitution rules to a list of strings?

I am trying to write a function that is applyRules(char, rules).
It should take
A single character.
A set of rules as a list.
The format of the rules list should be a set of strings in the following format:
character1: substitution, character2: substitution, etc.
I want to loop through the rules list, and parse the strings into symbol and substitutions (by using split() function maybe)?
This is what I have so far:
def applyRules(char, rules):
newstr = ""
for x in char:
newstr += s[0].replace('#') + s[1].replace('*')
return newstr
Am I understanding the format right?

Here's a fairly simple way to do it using a dictionary to hold the substitution rules:
rules = {
'#': 'No. ',
'*': 'one or more',
# etc
}
def applyRules(text, rules):
for rule in rules:
text = text.replace(rule, rules[rule])
return text
test = """
#1 - Never tell a lie.
#2 - There can be * of them.
"""
print(applyRules(test, rules))
Output:
No. 1 - Never tell a lie.
No. 2 - There can be one or more of them.

From what I understood I think this is what you want:
def applyRules(char, rules):
for rule_list in (rule.split(':') for rule in rules):
char = char.replace(rule_list[0], rule_list[1])
return char
Ex: print(applyRules('b', ['b:c', 'c:p'])) outputs 'p'

I may be wrong, but it seems like your code and description are different. If char is a single character, then how are you going to iterate over it? Is this what you're looking for?
def apply_rules(char, rules_list):
for old, new in map(lambda x: x.split(':'), rules_list):
char = char.replace(old, new)
return char

How to get the corresponding chars with a pattern in Python

I am now working on a function that can convert a bracket pattern like '[a-c]' to 'a', 'b' and 'c'.
i do not mean to do pattern matching in Python. I mean something that i can use '[a-c]' as input, and output the corresponding 'a', 'b' and 'c' which is valid matching chars for '[a-c]' in python regular expression. I want the matching chars.
we only have to consider [a-zA-Z0-9_-] as the valid chars in bracket.
No more modifiers like '*' or '+' or '?' considered.
However, it is very hard to write a robust one because we have so many situations to be considered. So, i want to know if there exists some tools to do this in Python?
Note: this one has some bug as noted by #swenzel.
I have write a function to do that work. You can check it out in this Gist
I recommend the way #swenzel do in his second proposal.
For more info about re.findall, please have a look at doc

This sounds like homework... but so be it.
From what I understood, you need a parser for your range definition.
There you go:
def parseRange(rangeStr, i=0):
# Recursion anchor, return empty set if we're out of bounds
if i >= len(rangeStr):
return set()
# charSet will tell us later if we actually have a range here
charSet = None
# There can only be a range if we have more than 2 characters left in the
# string and if the next character is a dash
if i+2 < len(rangeStr) and rangeStr[i+1] == '-':
# We might have a range. Valid ranges are between the following pairs of
# characters
pairs = [('a', 'z'), ('A', 'Z'), ('0', '9')]
for lo, hi in pairs:
# We now make use of the fact that characters are comparable.
# Also the second character should come after the first, or be
# the same which means e.g. 'a-a' -> 'a'
if (lo <= rangeStr[i] <= hi) and \
(rangeStr[i] <= rangeStr[i+2] <= hi):
# Retreive the set with all chars from the substring
charSet = parseRange(rangeStr, i+3)
# Extend the chars from the substring with the ones in this
# range.
# `range` needs integers, so we transform the chars to ints
# using ord and make use of the fact that their ASCII
# representation is ascending
charSet.update(chr(k) for k in
range(ord(rangeStr[i]), 1+ord(rangeStr[i+2])))
break
# If charSet is not yet defined this means that at the current position
# there is not a valid range definition. So we just get all chars for the
# following subset and add the current char
if charSet is None:
charSet = parseRange(rangeStr, i+1)
charSet.add(rangeStr[i])
# Return the char set with all characters defined within rangeStr[i:]
return charSet
It might not be the most elegant parser but it works.
Also you have to strip the square brackets when calling it, but you can do that easily e.g. with slicing [1:-1].
Another very short, dump and easy solution using the parser from re is this:
def parseRangeRe(rangeStr):
master_pattern = "1234567890abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ_-"
matcher = re.compile(rangeStr)
return set(matcher.findall(master_pattern))

This is a simple solution that might work for you:
import re
import string
def expand(pattern):
"""
Returns a list of characters that can be matched by the given pattern.
"""
pattern = pattern[1:-1] # ignore the leading '[' and trailing ']'
result = []
lower_range_re = re.compile('[a-z]-[a-z]')
upper_range_re = re.compile('[A-Z]-[A-Z]')
digit_range_re = re.compile('[0-9]-[0-9]')
for match in lower_range_re.findall(pattern):
result.extend(string.ascii_lowercase[string.ascii_lowercase.index(match[0]):string.ascii_lowercase.index(match[2]) + 1])
for match in upper_range_re.findall(pattern):
result.extend(string.ascii_uppercase[string.ascii_uppercase.index(match[0]):string.ascii_uppercase.index(match[2]) + 1])
for match in digit_range_re.findall(pattern):
result.extend(string.digits[string.digits.index(match[0]):string.digits.index(match[2]) + 1])
return result
It should work for patterns like [b-g], [0-3], [G-N], [b-gG-N1-3], etc. It won't work for patterns like [abc], [0123], etc.

This solution does not require regex so it might be wrong, but it is possible to:
pattern = '[a-c]'
excludes = '[-]' # Or use includes if that is easier
result = []
for char in pattern:
if char not in excludes: # if char in includes:
result.append(char)
print char
or take a look here: range over character in python

Apply formatting control characters (backspace and carriage return) to string, without needing recursion

What is the easiest way to "interpret" formatting control characters in a string, to show the results as if they were printed. For simplicity, I will assume there are no newlines in the string.
So for example,
>>> sys.stdout.write('foo\br')
shows for, therefore
interpret('foo\br') should be 'for'
>>>sys.sdtout.write('foo\rbar')
shows bar, therefore
interpret('foo\rbar') should be 'bar'
I can write a regular expression substitution here, but, in the case of '\b' replacement, it would have to be applied recursively until there are no more occurrences. It would be quite complex if done without recursion.
Is there an easier way?

If efficiency doesn't matter, a simple stack would work fine:
string = "foo\rbar\rbash\rboo\b\bba\br"
res = []
for char in string:
if char == "\r":
res.clear()
elif char == "\b":
if res: del res[-1]
else:
res.append(char)
"".join(res)
#>>> 'bbr'
Otherwise, I think this is about as fast as you can hope for in complex cases:
string = "foo\rbar\rbash\rboo\b\bba\br"
try:
string = string[string.rindex("\r")+1:]
except ValueError:
pass
split_iter = iter(string.split("\b"))
res = list(next(split_iter, ''))
for part in split_iter:
if res: del res[-1]
res.extend(part)
"".join(res)
#>>> 'bbr'
Note that I haven't timed this.

Python's does not have any built-in or standard library module for doing this.
However if you only care for simple control characters like \r, \b and \n you can write a simple function to handle this:
def interpret(text):
lines = []
current_line = []
for char in text:
if char == '\n':
lines.append(''.join(current_line))
current_line = []
elif char == '\r':
current_line.clear()
# del current_line[:] # in old python versions
elif char == '\b':
del current_line[-1:]
else:
current_line.append(char)
if current_line:
lines.append(current_line)
return '\n'.join(lines)
You can extend the function handling any control character you want. For example you might want to ignore some control characters that don't get actually displayed in a terminal (e.g. the bell \a)

UPDATE: after 30 minutes of asking for clarifications and an example string, we find the question is actually quite different: "How to repeatedly apply formatting control characters (backspace) to a Python string?"
In that case yes you apparently need to apply the regex/fn repeatedly until you stop getting matches.
SOLUTION:
import re
def repeated_re_sub(pattern, sub, s, flags=re.U):
"""Match-and-replace repeatedly until we run out of matches..."""
patc = re.compile(pattern, flags)
sold = ''
while sold != s:
sold = s
print "patc=>%s< sold=>%s< s=>%s<" % (patc,sold,s)
s = patc.sub(sub, sold)
#print help(patc.sub)
return s
print repeated_re_sub('[^\b]\b', '', 'abc\b\x08de\b\bfg')
#print repeated_re_sub('.\b', '', 'abcd\b\x08e\b\bfg')
[multiple previous answers, asking for clarifications and pointing out that both re.sub(...) or string.replace(...) could be used to solve the problem, non-recursively.]

Python, how do I parse key=value list ignoring what is inside parentheses?

Suppose I have a string like this:
"key1=value1;key2=value2;key3=(key3.1=value3.1;key3.2=value3.2)"
I would like to get a dictionary corresponding to the above, where the value for key3 is the string
"(key3.1=value3.1;key3.2=value3.2)"
and eventually the corresponding sub-dictionary.
I know how to split the string at the semicolons, but how can I tell the parser to ignore the semicolon between parentheses?
This includes potentially nested parentheses.
Currently I am using an ad-hoc routine that looks for pairs of matching parentheses, "clears" its content, gets split positions and applies them to the original string, but this does not appear very elegant, there must be some prepackaged pythonic way to do this.
If anyone is interested, here is the code I am currently using:
def pparams(parameters, sep=';', defs='=', brc='()'):
'''
unpackages parameter string to struct
for example, pippo(a=21;b=35;c=pluto(h=zzz;y=mmm);d=2d3f) becomes:
a: '21'
b: '35'
c.fn: 'pluto'
c.h='zzz'
d: '2d3f'
fn_: 'pippo'
'''
ob=strfind(parameters,brc[0])
dp=strfind(parameters,defs)
out={}
if len(ob)>0:
if ob[0]<dp[0]:
#opening function
out['fn_']=parameters[:ob[0]]
parameters=parameters[(ob[0]+1):-1]
if len(dp)>0:
temp=smart_tokenize(parameters,sep,brc);
for v in temp:
defp=strfind(v,defs)
pname=v[:defp[0]]
pval=v[1+defp[0]:]
if len(strfind(pval,brc[0]))>0:
out[pname]=pparams(pval,sep,defs,brc);
else:
out[pname]=pval
else:
out['fn_']=parameters
return out
def smart_tokenize( instr, sep=';', brc='()' ):
'''
tokenize string ignoring separators contained within brc
'''
tstr=instr;
ob=strfind(instr,brc[0])
while len(ob)>0:
cb=findclsbrc(tstr,ob[0])
tstr=tstr[:ob[0]]+'?'*(cb-ob[0]+1)+tstr[cb+1:]
ob=strfind(tstr,brc[1])
sepp=[-1]+strfind(tstr,sep)+[len(instr)+1]
out=[]
for i in range(1,len(sepp)):
out.append(instr[(sepp[i-1]+1):(sepp[i])])
return out
def findclsbrc(instr, brc_pos, brc='()'):
'''
given a string containing an opening bracket, finds the
corresponding closing bracket
'''
tstr=instr[brc_pos:]
o=strfind(tstr,brc[0])
c=strfind(tstr,brc[1])
p=o+c
p.sort()
s1=[1 if v in o else 0 for v in p]
s2=[-1 if v in c else 0 for v in p]
s=[s1v+s2v for s1v,s2v in zip(s1,s2)]
s=[sum(s[:i+1]) for i in range(len(s))] #cumsum
return p[s.index(0)]+brc_pos
def strfind(instr, substr):
'''
returns starting position of each occurrence of substr within instr
'''
i=0
out=[]
while i<=len(instr):
try:
p=instr[i:].index(substr)
out.append(i+p)
i+=p+1
except:
i=len(instr)+1
return out

If you want to build a real parser, use one of the Python parsing libraries, like PLY or PyParsing. If you figure such a full-fledged library is overkill for the task at hand, go for some hack like the one you already have. I'm pretty sure there is no clean few-line solution without an external library.

Expanding on Sven Marnach's answer, here's an example of a pyparsing grammar that should work for you:
from pyparsing import (ZeroOrMore, Word, printables, Forward,
Group, Suppress, Dict)
collection = Forward()
simple_value = Word(printables, excludeChars='()=;')
key = simple_value
inner_collection = Suppress('(') + collection + Suppress(')')
value = simple_value ^ inner_collection
key_and_value = Group(key + Suppress('=') + value)
collection << Dict(key_and_value + ZeroOrMore(Suppress(';') + key_and_value))
coll = collection.parseString(
"key1=value1;key2=value2;key3=(key3.1=value3.1;key3.2=value3.2)")
print coll['key1'] # value1
print coll['key2'] # value2
print coll['key3']['key3.1'] # value3.1

You could use a regex to capture the groups:
>>> import re
>>> s = "key1=value1;key2=value2;key3=(key3.1=value3.1;key3.2=value3.2)"
>>> r = re.compile('(\w+)=(\w+|\([^)]+\));?')
>>> dict(r.findall(s))
This regex says:
(\w)+ # Find and capture a group with 1 or more word characters (letters, digits, underscores)
= # Followed by the literal character '='
(\w+ # Followed by a group with 1 or more word characters
|\([^)]+\) # or a group that starts with an open paren (parens escaped with '\(' or \')'), followed by anything up until a closed paren, which terminates the alternate grouping
);? # optionally this grouping might be followed by a semicolon.
Gotta say, kind of a strange grammar. You should consider using a more standard format. If you need guidance choosing one maybe ask another question. Good luck!