lstrip problem - beginner question

[mstagliamonte]

On Tuesday, June 4, 2013 11:21:53 AM UTC-4, mstagliamonte wrote:
> Hi everyone,
> 
> 
> 
> I am a beginner in python and trying to find my way through... :)
> 
> 
> 
> I am writing a script to get numbers from the headers of a text file.
> 
> 
> 
> If the header is something like:
> 
> h01 = ('>scaffold_1')
> 
> I just use:
> 
> h01.lstrip('>scaffold_')
> 
> and this returns me with '1'
> 
> 
> 
> But, if the header is:
> 
> h02: ('>contig-100_1')
> 
> if I use:
> 
> h02.lstrip('>contig-100_')
> 
> this returns me with: ''
> 
> ...basically nothing. What surprises me is that if I do in this other way:
> 
> h02b = h02.lstrip('>contig-100')
> 
> I get h02b = ('_1')
> 
> and subsequently:
> 
> h02b.lstrip('_')
> 
> returns me with: '1' which is what I wanted!
> 
> 
> 
> Why is this happening? What am I missing?
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for your help and attention
> 
> Max