Error: Invalid escape sequence

Question

This is my first code in automation :

package Automationframework;

import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.firefox.FirefoxDriver;

public class FirstTestClass {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws InterruptedException {
        System.setProperty("webdriver.gecko.driver", "D:\workbox\Online Store\geckodriver.exe");

        WebDriver driver = new FirefoxDriver();
        driver.get("http://www.store.demoqa.com");
        System.out.println("Successfully opened the website www.Store.Demoqa.com");
        Thread.sleep(5000);
        driver.quit();
    }
}

And it is throwing Error:

Exception in thread "main" java.lang.Error: Unresolved compilation problem: 
    Invalid escape sequence (valid ones are  \b  \t  \n  \f  \r  \"  \'  \\ )
    at Automationframework.FirstTestClass.main(FirstTestClass.java:13)**

Use a double slash in Java string literal to escape a slash: `D:\\workbox\\Online Store\\geckodriver.exe` — abybaddi009, Jan 09 '18 at 11:10
Possible duplicate of [Invalid escape sequence (valid ones are \b \t \n \f \r \” \' \\ )" syntax error](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/15230420/invalid-escape-sequence-valid-ones-are-b-t-n-f-r-syntax-error) — AxelH, Jan 09 '18 at 11:46

Zabuzard · Answer 1 · 2018-01-09T11:46:18.587

Explanation

You wrote the String

"D:\workbox\Online Store\geckodriver.exe"

but the character \ has a special meaning in Java. It is interpreted as escape character. This means it is used to interpret the following character as literal and remove the special meaning of it, if it has one. This makes it possible to write for example the symbol " in a String though it normally introduces the end (or beginning) of a String, like:

"...\"..."

It is also used in order to write special characters like \n which is interpreted as newline.

Taking a look at your current code, with this knowledge, means you are writing \w, \O, \g. But those three are no valid escape sequences, that is why the compiler complains. Valid escape sequences are:

\b - backspace
\t - tab
\n - newline
\f - formfeed
\r - carriage return
\" - double quote character
\' - single quote character
\\ - backslash character

That is why the compiler suggests them, more on this at the official Oracle documentation.

Solution

In order to use \ itself as character you need to escape the symbol by using \ again, like \\. So by writing

"D:\\workbox\\Online Store\\geckodriver.exe"

You receive a String containing the text

D:\workbox\Online Store\geckodriver.exe

If you use an IDE, like eclipse, you can probably set it up such that it automatically inserts double-slashes when creating strings, pretty handy.

Alternatively you should use forward slashes, those are filesystem independent and will work whether you run your Java program on Windows, Mac, Linux or elsewhere. More on this at Forward slash or backslash?.

"D:/workbox/Online Store/geckodriver.exe"

score 3 · Answer 2 · edited Jan 09 '18 at 11:13

3

If you're using eclipse, there's a setting that inserts escape chars automatically when pasting:

Window -> Preferences -> Java -> Editor -> Typing -> In String Literals -> Escape text when pasting into a string literal

Then, when something like D:\Env\Images\image1.png is in your clipboard and you paste it into eclipse, it'll automatically look like this: D:\\Env\\Images\\image1.png

edited Jan 09 '18 at 11:13

Lakindu Gunasekara

4,221
4
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answered Jan 09 '18 at 11:10

Deepika

53
5

Didn't knew that one, but if I paste "D:\\Env\\Images\\image1.png" ? (i am mostly thinking about `String` for regex that need to be escape twice). – AxelH Jan 09 '18 at 11:48

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 09 '18 at 11:16

0

Use double (backward) slash when specifying path:

"D:\\workbox\\Online Store\\geckodriver.exe"

answered Jan 09 '18 at 11:16

hiren

1,067
1
9
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Error: Invalid escape sequence

3 Answers3

Explanation

Solution