How do you handle a backslash in python?

On this page: commenting with #, multi-line strings with """ """, printing multiple objects, the backslash "\" as the escape character, '\t', '\n', '\r', and '\\'.

Video Tutorial

Python 3 Changesprint(x,y) instead of print x, y

Video Summary

• As stated in earlier tutorials, the print() function tells Python to immediately display a given string once the command is executed. To designate a string for the print function to display, surround it in either single-quotes (' ') or double-quotes (" "). Both options are available so you can still use quotes within your string if need be. Ex: print("how are you doin' today?")
• If the pound symbol (#) is placed before a command or any sort of string of characters, the command will appear in red and Python will ignore it during code execution. This can be used within Python to provide helpful comments to those looking at your code, or to "turn off" certain lines of code in order to test for bugs.
• Surrounding a string with triple double-quotes (""" """) allows you to have any combination of quotes and line breaks within a string and Python will still interpret it as a single entity.

Learn More

• You can specify multiple strings with the print() function. Just separate them out with a comma ',', and they will be printed with a space in between:

  >>> print('apple', 'orange', 'pear') apple orange pear

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  • Video Tutorial
  • Video Summary
  • How do you handle a backslash in a string?
  • How do you fix a backslash as a string in Python?
  • Do you need to escape backslash in Python?
  • How do you ignore a slash in Python?
• In Python strings, the backslash "\" is a special character, also called the "escape" character. It is used in representing certain whitespace characters: "\t" is a tab, "\n" is a newline, and "\r" is a carriage return.

  >>> print('apple\torange') apple orange >>> print('apple\norange') apple orange

• Conversely, prefixing a special character with "\" turns it into an ordinary character. This is called "escaping". For example, "\'" is the single quote character. 'It\'s raining' therefore is a valid string and equivalent to "It's raining". Likewise, '"' can be escaped: "\"hello\"" is a string begins and ends with the literal double quote character. Finally, "\" can be used to escape itself: "\\" is the literal backslash character.

  >>> print('It\'s raining') It's raining >>> 'It\'s raining' # Same string specified differently "It's raining" >>> print("\"hello\"") "hello" >>> print('"\\" is the backslash') # Try with "\" instead of "\\" "\" is the backslash

• There are tons of handy functions that are defined on strings, called string methods. Learn about the ones on substringhood and also on case manipulation in this tutorial. This part 2 tutorial covers string methods for finding where a particular substring is located, and also for testing whether or not certain condition holds for every character.
• Once you get comfortable with lists (upcoming), you should also check out Splitting and Joining Strings.

Practice

There are at least three ways to print Fleas, Adam, Had'em (the shortest English poem ever written apparently) in three separate lines, using one print() function. What are they? Try in IDLE shell.

Explore

• Think Python has an excellent chapter (Ch.8 Strings) devoted to strings. It gives a comprehensive overview on what one can do with this data type.

I have this code:

import os
path = os.getcwd()
final = path +'\xulrunner.exe ' + path + '\application.ini'
print(final)

I want output like:

C:\Users\me\xulrunner.exe C:\Users\me\application.ini

But instead I get an error that looks like:

SyntaxError: (unicode error) 'unicodeescape' codec can't decode bytes in position 0-1: truncated \xXX escape

I don't want the backslashes to be interpreted as escape sequences, but as literal backslashes. How can I do it?

Note that if the string should only contain a backslash - more generally, should have an odd number of backslashes at the end - then raw strings cannot be used. Please use How can I get a string with a single backslash in it? to close questions that are asking for a string with just a backslash in it. Use How to write string literals in python without having to escape them? when the question is specifically about wanting to avoid the need for escape sequences.

asked Aug 1, 2010 at 2:19

4

To answer your question directly, put r in front of the string.

final= path + r'\xulrunner.exe ' + path + r'\application.ini'

But a better solution would be os.path.join:

final = os.path.join(path, 'xulrunner.exe') + ' ' + \
         os.path.join(path, 'application.ini')

(the backslash there is escaping a newline, but you could put the whole thing on one line if you want)

I will mention that you can use forward slashes in file paths, and Python will automatically convert them to the correct separator (backslash on Windows) as necessary. So

final = path + '/xulrunner.exe ' + path + '/application.ini'

should work. But it's still preferable to use os.path.join because that makes it clear what you're trying to do.

answered Aug 1, 2010 at 2:22

David ZDavid Z

124k26 gold badges249 silver badges275 bronze badges

2

You can escape the slash. Use \\ and you get just one slash.

answered Aug 1, 2010 at 5:22

avacariuavacariu

2,6543 gold badges24 silver badges25 bronze badges

0

Another simple (and arguably more readable) approach is using string raw format and replacements like so:

import os
path = os.getcwd()
final = r"{0}\xulrunner.exe {0}\application.ini".format(path)
print(final)

or using the os path method (and a microfunction for readability):

import os

def add_cwd(path):
    return os.path.join( os.getcwd(), path )

xulrunner = add_cwd("xulrunner.exe")
inifile = add_cwd("application.ini")
# in production you would use xulrunner+" "+inifile
# but the purpose of this example is to show a version where you could use any character
# including backslash
final = r"{} {}".format( xulrunner, inifile )
print(final)

answered Mar 16, 2021 at 21:27

Chris RuddChris Rudd

5476 silver badges12 bronze badges

How do you handle a backslash in a string?

How do you fix a backslash as a string in Python?

Do you need to escape backslash in Python?

How do you ignore a slash in Python?