How to split up a Python list in R

Question

I have a list created in Python embedded into a cell of a csv. I am trying to coerce the elements into a datatable in R, but I am stuck on one particular vector which contains text. The reason is that while strsplit() works fine with the numeric values by splitting on ",", any embedded comma in the text causes one vector to be longer than the others. Below I've enclosed a reproducible example. Thank you for any help you can provide!

x <- c("['SPOSORSHIP FOR CONVENTION']", "['GENERAL CONTRIBUTION', 'GENERAL CONTRIBUTION']", 
"['WOMEN & POPULATION']", "['PROGRAM SUPPORT', 'PROGRAM SUPPORT']", 
"['MULTIPLE GRANTS FOR MULTIPLE PURPOSES']", "['IMPROVING NATIONAL PARKS']", 
"['general operating support']", "['Civic Engagement', 'Animal Welfare', 'Religion']", 
"['RESEARCH SUBAWARD']", "['OPERATIONAL SUPPORT', 'OPERATIONAL SUPPORT']", 
"['PROMOTE FILM INDUSTRY']", "['TO SUPPORT PUBLIC AFFAIRS PROGRAMS', 'TO SUPPORT PUBLIC AFFAIRS PROGRAMS', 'TO SUPPORT PUBLIC AFFAIRS PROGRAMS', 'TO SUPPORT PUBLIC AFFAIRS PROGRAMS', 'TO SUPPORT PUBLIC AFFAIRS PROGRAMS', 'TO SUPPORT PUBLIC AFFAIRS PROGRAMS']", 
"['10TH ANNUAL GREAT LAKES RESTORATION CONFERENCE AND PETER WEGE TRIBUTE LUNCHEON']", 
"['Conservation', 'Conservation']", "['FOR GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT']"
)

Answer 1

Perhaps this will help. I first remove the '[ and '] and then split on ', '

cleeaned_text = gsub("(^\\['+)|('\\]\\b)",'',x) #remove '[ and ]'
unlist( strsplit(cleeaned_text, "', '") ) #split on ', '
 [1] "SPOSORSHIP FOR CONVENTION"                                                     
 [2] "GENERAL CONTRIBUTION"                                                          
 [3] "GENERAL CONTRIBUTION"                                                          
 [4] "WOMEN & POPULATION"                                                            
 [5] "PROGRAM SUPPORT"                                                               
 [6] "PROGRAM SUPPORT"                                                               
 [7] "MULTIPLE GRANTS FOR MULTIPLE PURPOSES"                                         
 [8] "IMPROVING NATIONAL PARKS"                                                      
 [9] "general operating support"                                                     
[10] "Civic Engagement"                                                              
[11] "Animal Welfare"                                                                
[12] "Religion"                                                                      
[13] "RESEARCH SUBAWARD"                                                             
[14] "OPERATIONAL SUPPORT"                                                           
[15] "OPERATIONAL SUPPORT"                                                           
[16] "PROMOTE FILM INDUSTRY"                                                         
[17] "TO SUPPORT PUBLIC AFFAIRS PROGRAMS"                                            
[18] "TO SUPPORT PUBLIC AFFAIRS PROGRAMS"                                            
[19] "TO SUPPORT PUBLIC AFFAIRS PROGRAMS"                                            
[20] "TO SUPPORT PUBLIC AFFAIRS PROGRAMS"                                            
[21] "TO SUPPORT PUBLIC AFFAIRS PROGRAMS"                                            
[22] "TO SUPPORT PUBLIC AFFAIRS PROGRAMS"                                            
[23] "10TH ANNUAL GREAT LAKES RESTORATION CONFERENCE AND PETER WEGE TRIBUTE LUNCHEON"
[24] "Conservation"                                                                  
[25] "Conservation"                                                                  
[26] "FOR GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT"  

Answer 2

Two solutions:

# with stringr
library(stringr)
a <- str_replace_all(x, "\\['|'\\]", "") %>%
  str_split("', '") %>%
  unlist

# with base
b <- unlist(strsplit(gsub("\\['|'\\]", "", x), "', '"))

identical(a, b)

Result:

[1] "SPOSORSHIP FOR CONVENTION"
[2] "GENERAL CONTRIBUTION" "GENERAL CONTRIBUTION"
[3] "WOMEN & POPULATION"
...

The trick is to trim the strings first, and then separate on ', ' instead of just the comma.