import re
pattern = "***abc**de*fg******h"
pattern.replace("*"*, "*")

def convertString(pattern):
for i in range(len(pattern)-1):
    if(pattern[i] == pattern[i+1]):
        pattern2 = pattern[i]
return pattern2

re.sub('*+', '*', text)

re.sub('**+', '*', text)

python27python -mtimeit -s"t='a*'*100;import re" "re.sub('*+', '*', t)"
10000 loops, best of 3: 73.2 usec per loop

python27python -mtimeit -s"t='a*'*100;import re" "re.sub('**+', '*', t)"
100000 loops, best of 3: 8.9 usec per loop

import re

result = re.sub("*+", "*", "***abc**de*fg******h")

def squeeze(char,s):
    while char*2 in s:
        s=s.replace(char*2,char)
    return s
print squeeze("*" , "AB***abc**def**AA***k")

regex  = re.compile('*+')
result = re.sub(regex, "*", string)

re.sub('*+', '*', pattern)

source = "***abc**dee*fg******h"
target = ''.join(c for c,n in zip(source, source[1:]+' ') if  c+n != '**')
print target

pattern.replace("*"*, "*")

pattern.replace("**", "*")
#                ^^^^

pattern_after_substitution= re.sub(r"*+", "*", pattern)

while True:
    if "  " in pattern:
        result = result.pattern("  ", " ")
    else:
        break

File Type                       : Win32 EXE
File Type Extension             : exe
MIME Type                       : application/octet-stream
Machine Type                    : Intel 386 or later, and compatibles
Time Stamp                      : 2017:04:24 09:55:04-04:00

File Type : Win32 EXE
File Type Extension : exe
MIME Type : application/octet-stream
Machine Type : Intel 386 or later, and compatibles
Time Stamp : 2017:04:24 09:55:04-04:00