Multiple lines user Input in Python

# Table of Contents

1. Multiple lines user Input in Python
2. Read user Input until EOF in Python
3. Read user Input until EOF using try/except

# Multiple lines user Input in Python

To take multiple lines of user input:

1. Use a while loop to iterate for as long as the user is typing in values.
2. On each iteration, append the user input and a newline character to a list.
3. If the user presses Enter without typing in a value, break out of the loop.

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lines = []

while True:
    user_input = input()

    # 👇️ if the user presses Enter without a value, break out of the loop
    if user_input == '':
        break
    else:
        lines.append(user_input + '\n')


# 👇️ prints list of strings
print(lines)

# 👇️ join list into a string
print(''.join(lines))

We used a while loop to iterate for as long as the user is typing in values.

This can be any other condition, e.g. you might have a stop word such as done or quit.

The break statement breaks out of the innermost enclosing for or while loop.

If the user types in a value, we use the list.append() method to append the value and a newline character to a list.

The list.append() method adds an item to the end of the list.

# Read user Input until EOF in Python

Alternatively, you can use the sys.stdin.readlines() method to read user input until EOF.

The readlines() method will return a list containing the lines.

The user can press CTRL + D (Unix) or CTRL + Z (Windows) to exit.

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import sys

# 👇️ User must press Ctrl + D (Unix) or Ctrl + Z (Windows) to exit

print('Press CTRL + D (Unix) or CTRL + Z (Windows) to exit')

user_input = sys.stdin.readlines()

# 👇️ get list of lines
print(user_input)

# 👇️ join the list items into a string
print(''.join(user_input))

stdin is used for interactive user input.

The readlines() method returns a list containing the list the user entered.

You can use the str.join() method if you need to join the list of strings into a string.

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# a
# b
# c
print(''.join(['a\n', 'b\n', 'c\n']))

If you only need a string containing the lines, use the sys.stdin.read() method instead.

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import sys


user_input = sys.stdin.read()

print(user_input)

The sys.stdin.read() method returns a string containing the lines the user entered.

Alternatively, you can use a try/except statement.

# Read user Input until EOF using try/except

This is a three-step process:

1. Use a while loop to iterate until EOF.
2. On each iteration, append the user input to a list.
3. Catch the EOFError exception in the except block and break out of the loop.

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lines = []


while True:
    try:
        lines.append(input())
    except EOFError:
        lines_str = '\n'.join(lines)
        print(lines_str)

        break

print(lines)

We used a while loop to iterate until EOF.

If the user presses CTRL + D (Unix) or CTRL + Z (Windows), an EOFError exception is raised and is handled in the except block.

The break statement breaks out of the innermost enclosing for or while loop.

# Additional Resources

You can learn more about the related topics by checking out the following tutorials:

• Taking user input boolean (True/False) values in Python
• How to Create a Date from user Input in Python
• Taking a file path from user input in Python
• How to take Float user input in Python
• Only accept a single character from user Input in Python
• Creating a Tuple or a Set from user Input in Python
• How to Validate user input in Python
• Yes/No question with user input in Python
• EOFError: EOF when reading a line in Python [Solved]