python – Print raw string from variable? (not getting the answers)

python – Print raw string from variable? (not getting the answers)

I had a similar problem and stumbled upon this question, and know thanks to Nick Olson-Harris answer that the solution lies with changing the string.

Two ways of solving it:

1. Get the path you want using native python functions, e.g.:

   test = os.getcwd() # In case the path in question is your current directory
   print(repr(test))
   

   This makes it platform independent and it now works with .encode. If this is an option for you, its the more elegant solution.

2. If your string is not a path, define it in a way compatible with python strings, in this case by escaping your backslashes:

   test = C:\Windows\Users\alexb\
   print(repr(test))
   

You cant turn an existing string raw. The r prefix on literals is understood by the parser; it tells it to ignore escape sequences in the string. However, once a string literal has been parsed, theres no difference between a raw string and a regular one. If you have a string that contains a newline, for instance, theres no way to tell at runtime whether that newline came from the escape sequence n, from a literal newline in a triple-quoted string (perhaps even a raw one!), from calling chr(10), by reading it from a file, or whatever else you might be able to come up with. The actual string object constructed from any of those methods looks the same.

python – Print raw string from variable? (not getting the answers)

In general, to make a raw string out of a string variable, I use this:

string = C:\WindowsUsersalexb

raw_string = r{}.format(string)

output:

C:\\Windows\Users\alexb