Cannot set PATH variable for Google BigQuery in Python - unicode error

Question

This is my first time using BigQuery (I'm using Python 3.7 on Windows 10), and I found a helpful thread here and the BigQuery quickstart guide, BUT when I run

os.environ["GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS] = "PATH\TO\file_name.json"

I get the error:

  File "<ipython-input-14-ee09f24087ab>", line 1
    os.environ["GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS"] = "C:\Users\Jack\Downloads\StackOverflow-80e374bb80fd.json"
                                                  ^
SyntaxError: (unicode error) 'unicodeescape' codec can't decode bytes in position 2-3: truncated \UXXXXXXXX escape

I followed the instructions for getting that file, named myself owner, and did not alter the .json file. Is there a way to change the encoding? I can't find anything about encoding in the docs. Any help would be appreciated, thanks in advance.

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 25 '19 at 17:40

1

You need to escape your slashes or it will be read as in invalid unicode character:

"C:\\Users\\Jack\\Downloads\\StackOverflow-80e374bb80fd.json"

answered Sep 25 '19 at 17:40

MyNameIsCaleb

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Of course, I didn't even think of that... Thank you! – Jack Hanson Sep 25 '19 at 18:27
No problem. Windows will get you every time. – MyNameIsCaleb Sep 25 '19 at 18:29

Cannot set PATH variable for Google BigQuery in Python - unicode error

1 Answers1