Multiline Input Handling in Python

While Python 3 introduced the input function as a replacement for raw_input, the former lacks the ability to accept multiline input. This limitation can be overcome through various approaches.

Utilizing a Loop

One solution is to employ a loop that continues until an End-of-File (EOF) character is encountered. This technique enables the program to read input line by line and store it in a list or variable.

# Python 3
print("Enter/Paste your content. Ctrl-D or Ctrl-Z (Windows) to save it.")
contents = []
while True:
    try:
        line = input()
    except EOFError:
        break
    contents.append(line)

# Python 2
print "Enter/Paste your content. Ctrl-D or Ctrl-Z (Windows) to save it."
contents = []
while True:
    try:
        line = raw_input("")
    except EOFError:
        break
    contents.append(line)

Using Multi-Line String Literals

Another approach is to utilize multi-line string literals enclosed in triple quotes. These literals can be assigned to a variable and treated like a multiline input.

multi_line_input = '''
Line 1
Line 2
Line 3
'''

Third-Party Modules

Alternatively, third-party modules such as textwrap can be employed to facilitate multiline input handling.

import textwrap

multi_line_input = textwrap.dedent('''
    Line 1
    Line 2
    Line 3
    ''')