Python insert "\" in string

Question

I'm trying to insert a backslash in a string but when I do this:

s1='cn=Name Surname (123)'
s1[:17] + '\' + s1[17:]

I get

SyntaxError: EOL while scanning string literal

Also, tried this but it inserts 2 backslashes

s1[:17] + '\\' + s1[17:]

The final string should look like this

s1='cn=Name Surname \(123\)'

@thegrinner, `r'\'` is not a valid string. Look [here](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/647769/why-cant-pythons-raw-string-literals-end-with-a-single-backslash) — awesoon, Aug 30 '13 at 14:16
@thegrinner: that is the *one* thing you cannot do in a raw string. You cannot end it in one slash. — Martijn Pieters, Aug 30 '13 at 14:17
@thegrinner, `r'\'` is not working. String(including raw string) cannot ends with odd number of `\ `. — falsetru, Aug 30 '13 at 14:17
@soon Ah, interesting. Never ran into that before. Thanks for the link. — thegrinner, Aug 30 '13 at 14:17
@sergei "but it inserts 2 backslashes" no, it doesn't. It only looks so for representation purposes. — glglgl, Aug 30 '13 at 14:18
Yeah, beginners mistakes I guess? I need to remember to print the output first, ask later. — sergei, Aug 30 '13 at 14:30

score 5 · Accepted Answer · 2013-08-30T14:47:59.410

5

Here:

>>> s1 = 'cn=Name Surname (123)'
>>> x = s1[:16]+'\\'+s1[16:-1]+'\\'+s1[-1:]
>>> x
'cn=Name Surname \\(123\\)'
>>> print x
cn=Name Surname \(123\)
>>>

You have to print the string. Otherwise, you will see \\ (which is used in the interpreter to show a literal backslash).

edited Aug 30 '13 at 14:47

answered Aug 30 '13 at 14:17

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 30 '13 at 14:14

4

>>> s1='cn=Name Surname (123)'
>>> s1[:17] + '\\' + s1[17:]
'cn=Name Surname (\\123)'

It seems like two backslash, but it's actually containing only one backslash.

>>> print(s1[:17] + '\\' + s1[17:])
cn=Name Surname (\123)
>>> print s1[:17] + '\\' + s1[17:-1] + '\\' + s1[-1:]
cn=Name Surname (\123\)

answered Aug 30 '13 at 14:14

falsetru

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You got the print part right but the final result isn't like he wanted. – Aug 30 '13 at 14:18

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 30 '13 at 14:27

If you're just entering it in the python command line interpreter and pressing enter, it will show up as two backslashes because the interpreter shows the escape character. However, if you saved it to a file, or if you used it in a "print" command it will suppress the escape character and print the actual value, which in this case is just one backslash.

Germano · Answer 4 · 2013-08-30T14:22:29.990

0

Can something like this suffice?

print(s1.replace('(', '\\(').replace(')', '\\)'))

edited Aug 30 '13 at 14:22

answered Aug 30 '13 at 14:16

Germano

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That doesn't answers the question. – Ashwini Chaudhary Aug 30 '13 at 14:18
@AshwiniChaudhary Right. I fixed it. – Germano Aug 30 '13 at 14:23
@AshwiniChaudhary Yes, it inserts 2 backslashes to get the second one right. Have you run the code? – Germano Aug 30 '13 at 14:31
I know your code works but question was why I am getting `\\ ` in the output?(repr vs str)Add explanation related to that in your answer. – Ashwini Chaudhary Aug 30 '13 at 14:33
He was actually getting a `SyntaxError`, plus there was an issue with the index used to insert the char. Can't see any question about "why". – Germano Aug 30 '13 at 14:37

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Oct 05 '21 at 00:24

0

for folder in Chart_Folders:
    files = os.listdir(path + '\\' + folder)
    print(files)

indeed this works

answered Oct 05 '21 at 00:24

2winners

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This doesn't address the question. – Jan Wilamowski Oct 05 '21 at 07:38

Python insert "\" in string

5 Answers5