Python gives output 'u' character before displaying anything?

Question

I am new to python and I am getting something weird stuff in my python console while displaying output into the screen.

>>> macbeth_sentsence = gutenberg.sents('shakespeare-macbeth.txt');
>>> macbeth_sentsence
[[u'[', u'The', u'Tragedie', u'of', u'Macbeth', u'by', u'William', u'Shakespeare', u'1603', u']'], [u'Actus', u'Primus', u'.'], ...]

I am not expecting the extra 'u' character in my output screen.

Anyone knows how to suppress that? Anything to do with default python settings?

UPDATED from BELOW: for people who didn't understood what I want to resolve.

When the same command was executed in my Windows system in Vbox

I got something like this:

>>> macbeth_sentsence = gutenberg.sents('shakespeare-macbeth.txt');
    >>> macbeth_sentsence
    [['[', 'The', 'Tragedie', 'of', 'Macbeth', 'by', 'William', 'Shakespeare', '1603', ']'], ['Actus', 'Primus', '.'], ...]

I want the same result in my Mac machine; what adjustment I have to do into my defaults to get result like that I got in Windows.

PS: Answers from this: removing `u` character in python output and this: Python ascii utf unicode and this : Python string prints as [u'String'] are not what I am looking for.

That just means it's a unicode string. If you actually print the string using `print`, you don't see that. — larsks, Feb 22 '15 at 20:33
You are seeing the **`repr()`** representation, which provides you with a format that lets you reproduce the value in a new Python session. Always helpful with debugging. — Martijn Pieters, Feb 22 '15 at 20:35
@PadraicCunningham Yeah I understand that, but why is it showing in there only for me? I don't see this things in others peers screen, but only mine. @larsks~ okay, yeah true, but how shall I remove them? Anything to do with defaults? — kishoredbn, Feb 22 '15 at 20:36
@MartijnPieters good to know that, but I am not debugging right now, can you tell me how to suppress it and use it only when required? — kishoredbn, Feb 22 '15 at 20:38
@ikis: then *don't print the list*. Containers always use `repr()` to represent contents. Print the individual elements or format the list contents into a new string. — Martijn Pieters, Feb 22 '15 at 20:38
@PadraicCunningham: or just not print the list. Or format the contents, using `unicode.join()` perhaps. — Martijn Pieters, Feb 22 '15 at 20:40
@MartijnPieters, yep. I would just leave as is but the OP did ask — Padraic Cunningham, Feb 22 '15 at 20:40
I used `encode` in my answer and I got some downvotes. Any idea Padraic? — Malik Brahimi, Feb 22 '15 at 20:40
@MartijnPieters Did you understand my question. The one you tagged duplicate with is no way answer to my question. Please check my comment in the answer below. — kishoredbn, Feb 23 '15 at 05:50

score 0 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:56

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It's just indicating a unicode string. see Easiest way to remove unicode representations from a string in python 3?

edited May 23 '17 at 11:56

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answered Feb 22 '15 at 20:35

Gadi

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The post you link to has nothing to do with unicode representations in containers like a list. – Martijn Pieters Feb 22 '15 at 20:40

Malik Brahimi · Answer 2 · 2015-02-22T20:53:59.563

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It's a Unicode string, you can do the following to remove it by converting to ascii:

macbeth_sentence = [[i.encode() for i in j] for j in macbeth_sentence]

edited Feb 22 '15 at 20:53

answered Feb 22 '15 at 20:38

Malik Brahimi

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Revoked down vote, but that didn't answered my question. How to make this change permanent. – kishoredbn Feb 22 '15 at 20:41
It is permanent. Try printing `new` and you'll see that there is no preceding u. – Malik Brahimi Feb 22 '15 at 20:42
I think the OP means how to do it in the original list – Padraic Cunningham Feb 22 '15 at 20:43
@MalikBrahimi~ By permanent I meant next time if I write something like {>>> macbeth_sentsence = gutenberg.sents('shakespeare-macbeth.txt'); >>> macbeth_sentsence} I don't have to encode macbeth_sentsence, but it should come as default without u. – kishoredbn Feb 22 '15 at 20:45
Is this good now ikis? I used a list comprehension to iterate through the entire nested list and I encoded every string to ascii. – Malik Brahimi Feb 22 '15 at 20:55

Python gives output 'u' character before displaying anything?

UPDATED from BELOW: for people who didn't understood what I want to resolve.

2 Answers2