+
+
+def replace(string, data):
+ """
+ Replaces the data occurrences in the string.
+
+ Parameters
+ ----------
+ string : str or unicode
+ String to manipulate.
+ data : dict
+ Replacement occurrences.
+
+ Returns
+ -------
+ unicode
+ Manipulated string.
+
+ Examples
+ --------
+ >>> patterns = {"John" : "Luke",
+ ... "Jane" : "Anakin",
+ ... "Doe" : "Skywalker",
+ ... "Z6PO" : "R2D2"}
+ >>> data = "Users are: John Doe, Jane Doe, Z6PO."
+ >>> replace(data,patterns )
+ u'Users are: Luke Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker, R2D2.'
+ """
+
+ for old, new in data.iteritems():
+ string = string.replace(old, new)
+ return string
+
+
+def sanitize(path):
+ """
+ Object description.
+
+ Parameters
+ ----------
+ parameter : type
+ Parameter description.
+
+ Returns
+ -------
+ type
+ Return value description.
+ """
+
+ return replace(path, {' ': '_', ')': '_', '(': '_'})
+
+
+def compact(string):
+ """
+ Removes blanks, underscores, dashes and parentheses.
+
+ Parameters
+ ----------
+ string : str or unicode
+ String to compact.
+
+ Returns
+ -------
+ str or unicode
+ A compact version of that string.
+ """
+
+ return replace(string.lower(),
+ OrderedDict(((' ', '_'),
+ ('(', '_'),
+ (')', '_'),
+ ('.', '_'),
+ ('-', '_'),
+ ('___', '_'),
+ ('__', '_'),
+ ('_', ''))))