Routine for prefixing '>' before every line of a string

[Roberto Bonvallet]

Sanjay wrote:
> Is somewhere a routine useful to convert a string to lines of maxsize,
> each prefixed with a '>'. This is a typical requirement for 'keeping
> existing text while replying to a post in a forum'.

Take a look to the textwrap module:
http://docs.python.org/lib/module-textwrap.html

Here is an example:

    # the text is actually a very long line
    text = '''Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing [...]'''
    prefix = '>'

    import textwrap
    lines = ["%s %s" % (prefix, line) for line in textwrap.wrap(text, width=75)]

    for line in lines:
	print line

This prints:

    > Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Etiam rhoncus,
    > justo eget facilisis gravida, lorem elit pellentesque urna, sed imperdiet
    > orci nisl sed nibh. Curabitur dignissim pretium magna. Proin nunc justo,
    > luctus ut, mollis sed, bibendum vel, nibh. Morbi rutrum est in nisl. Fusce
    > sagittis. Integer varius. Vivamus dapibus lectus sed nisl. Phasellus
    > gravida dignissim augue. Curabitur eget orci. Nulla ante augue, adipiscing
    > a, consequat ut, elementum ac, libero. Donec malesuada lacus vel quam. Ut a
    > massa vel velit fringilla rutrum. Maecenas massa sem, vulputate non,
    > lacinia eu, cursus ut, urna. Donec ultrices sollicitudin nunc. Sed vel arcu
    > in lacus posuere faucibus. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer
    > adipiscing elit.

HTH.  Cheers,
-- 
Roberto Bonvallet