sort_author_list.py

#!/usr/bin/env python
"""
This script takes a list of authors which have the following format:
[T Yamamoto, N Hagima, M Fukasawa, J Yamaguchi, M Nakamura, Y Kohno, K Nagata, Y Yamazoe.] or
[TS Emudianughe, J Caldwell, RL Smith.]
and converts it to the following format:
[Yamamoto T, Hagima N, Fukasawa M, Yamaguchi J, Nakamura M, Kohno Y, Nagata K, Yamazoe Y.] or
[Emudianughe TS , Caldwell J, Smith RL.]
"""
__author__ = 'Ernest'

import re

def swap_initials_surname(authors):
    '''
    split the list of authors and then split the initials and surname.
    :param authors:
    :return:
    '''
    '''
    :param authors:
    :return:
    '''
    updated_authors = []
    for i in authors:
        new = i.split(' ')
        updated_authors.append(new)

    return updated_authors


def swap(initial_surname):

    return 0




b = swap_initials_surname(['TS Emudianughe', 'J Caldwell', 'RL Smith'])
print b

a = swap_initials_surname(['T Yamamoto', 'N Hagima', 'M Fukasawa', 'J Yamaguchi', 'M Nakamura', 'Y Kohno', 'K Nagata', 'Y Yamazoe'])
print a