def unpack(string): ll = string.split('-_') ll.remove("") # Remove empty line el_col = ll[0].count('-') post_ll = [] for i in ll: temp = i.split("-") # Multi-add (2, 3 or 5 elements) if el_col == 1: post_ll.append([int(temp[0]), int(temp[1])]) elif el_col == 2: post_ll.append([int(temp[0]), int(temp[1]), int(temp[2])]) elif el_col == 4: post_ll.append([int(temp[0]), int(temp[1]), int(temp[2]), int(temp[3]), int(temp[4]) ]) return post_ll def pack(ll): string = '' for el in ll: for i in el: string += str(i) + '-' string += '_' return string