title: Unable to compare string to list with '/' character
body: <p>I have a 2 dimensional list of lists, which I need to search based on the first record field,  the content are strings which include the forward slash character.</p>
  
  <p>When testing the arg_size the search always fails if the forward slash character is present.  I have hard coded the arguments for troubleshooting purposes.</p>
  
  <p>Thanks in advance.</p>
  
  <pre><code># -*- coding: UTF-8 -*-
  bolt = {}    # create empty dictionary
  thread_geometry = {}    # create empty dictionary
  
  #  variables for record position
  size = 0
  dia_in = 1
  dia_mm = 2
  tpi_UNC = 3
  pitch_UNC_in = 4
  pitch_UNC_mm = 5
  tpi_UNF = 6
  pitch_UNF_in = 7
  pitch_UNF_mm = 8
  tpi_UNEF = 9
  pitch_UNEF_in = 10
  pitch_UNEF_mm = 11
  
  # lookup table for bolt standards,negative values represents NULL
  bolt_table = [
          [r"#0", 0.06, 1.524, -1, -1, -1, 80, 0.0125, 0.3175, -1, -1, -1 ],
          [r"#1", 0.073, 1.8542, 64, 0.015625, 0.3969, 72, 0.013888, 0.3528, -1, -1, -1 ],
          [r"#2", 0.086, 2.1844, 56, 0.017857, 0.4536, 64, 0.015625, 0.3969, -1, -1, -1 ],
          [r"#3", 0.099, 2.5146, 48, 0.020833, 0.5292, 56, 0.017857, 0.4536, -1, -1, -1 ],
          [r"#4", 0.112, 2.8448, 40, 0.025, 0.635, 48, 0.020833, 0.5292, -1, -1, -1 ],
          [r"#5", 0.125, 3.175, 40, 0.025, 0.635, 44, 0.022727, 0.5773, -1, -1, -1 ],
          [r"#6", 0.138, 3.5052, 32, 0.03125, 0.7938, 40, 0.025, 0.635, -1, -1, -1 ],
          [r"#8", 0.164, 4.1656, 32, 0.03125, 0.7938, 36, 0.027778, 0.7056, -1, -1, -1 ],
          [r"#10", 0.19, 4.826, 24, 0.041667, 1.0583, 32, 0.03125, 0.7938, -1, -1, -1 ],
          [r"#12", 0.216, 5.4864, 24, 0.041667, 1.0583, 28, 0.035714, 0.9071, 32, 0.03125, 0.7938 ],
          [r"1/4", 0.25, 6.35, 20, 0.05, 1.27, 28, 0.035714, 0.9071, 32, 0.03125, 0.7938 ],
          [r"5⁄16", 0.3125, 7.9375, 18, 0.055556, 1.4111, 24, 0.041667, 1.0583, 32, 0.03125, 0.7938 ],
          [ur"3⁄8", 0.375, 9.525, 16, 0.0625, 1.5875, 24, 0.041667, 1.0583, 32, 0.03125, 0.7938 ],
          [r"7⁄16", 0.4375, 11.1125, 14, 0.071428, 1.8143, 20, 0.05, 1.27, 28, 0.035714, 0.9071 ],
          [r"1⁄2", 0.5, 12.7, 13, 0.076923, 1.9538, 20, 0.05, 1.27, 28, 0.035714, 0.9071 ],
          [r"9⁄16", 0.5625, 14.2875, 12, 0.083333, 2.1167, 18, 0.055556, 1.4111, 24, 0.041667, 1.0583 ],
          [r"5⁄8", 0.625, 15.875, 11, 0.090909, 2.3091, 18, 0.055556, 1.4111, 24, 0.041667, 1.0583 ],
          [r"3⁄4", 0.75, 19.05, 10, 0.1, 2.54, 16, 0.0625, 1.5875, 20, 0.05, 1.27 ],
          [r"7⁄8", 0.875, 22.225, 9, 0.111111, 2.8222, 14, 0.071428, 1.8143, 20, 0.05, 1.27 ],
          [r"1", 1, 25.4, 8, 0.125, 3.175, 12, 0.083333, 2.1167, 20, 0.05, 1.27 ],
          ]
  
  
  
  # # # # ------------------- Main -------------------------------------------- # # # #
  
  
  #  Get bolt parameters
  #  if the no value is entered the value will be NULL or set to a default
  
  arg_unit = 'mm'
  if arg_unit.lower() == 'mm':
      bolt['unit'] = 'mm'
  else:
      bolt['unit'] = 'in'
  
  arg_size = '3/8'
  for x in bolt_table:
      if str(x[size]) == str(arg_size):
          bolt['size'] = str(arg_size)
  
  arg_length = 2.5
  if arg_length &gt; 0:
      bolt['length'] = arg_length
  else:
      sys.stderr.write(" Bolt length is a required field!!!")
      sys.exit()
  
  arg_thread = 'UNC'
  if arg_thread.upper() == 'UNC' or arg_thread.upper() == 'UNF' or arg_thread.upper() == 'UNEF':
      bolt['thread'] = arg_thread.upper()
  
  print bolt.viewitems()
  </code></pre>