How to fix Python encoding in terminal

Question

How do you set the default encoding Python uses with sys.stdout when run from a terminal program like Gnome-Terminal?

If I execute a Python script inside Gnome-Terminal, I get the notorious "UnicodeEncodeError: 'ascii' codec can't encode character" error if the script tries to print unicode characters. However, even though Gnome-Terminal's encoding is set to "UTF-8", if I print sys.stdout.encoding it shows "ANSI_X3.4-1968".

Minimal code to reproduce the error is:

python -c 'import sys; print sys.stdout.encoding; print u"\u0411\n"'

Why isn't Python using the terminal's encoding of utf-8?

Note, I'm not asking how to convert my string to ASCII.

Tried `# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-` at the top of your script file ? — Szabolcs, Feb 28 '17 at 18:43
@Szabolcs There's no script, as far as I understood -- just one command. — avysk, Feb 28 '17 at 18:48
Can you show output of `locale` command in your terminal, please? — avysk, Feb 28 '17 at 18:48
What if you encode the unicode string using a suitable encoding like `utf8` before printing it? — Stop harming Monica, Feb 28 '17 at 19:24
Not quite the answer to your problem, but the info here might help you figure it out: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2596714/why-does-python-print-unicode-characters-when-the-default-encoding-is-ascii — Richard Dunn, Feb 28 '17 at 20:20
@Szabolcs and the upvoters. `# coding: utf8` declares the encoding of the *source file* and *nothing else*. — Mark Tolonen, Mar 01 '17 at 05:03

score 4 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:00

4

Try setting the PYTHONIOENCODING variable, or using the solutions in this question.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:00

Community

1
1

answered Feb 28 '17 at 18:44

aghast

14,785
3
24
56

How to fix Python encoding in terminal

1 Answers1