Is there a Python module to parse line break notation in a raw string?

Question

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Process escape sequences in a string in Python

If I get this string, for example from a web form:

'\n test'

The '\n' notation won't be interpreted as a line break. How an I parse this string so it becomes a line break?

Of course I can use replace, split, re, etc, to do it manually.

But maybe there is a module for that, since I don't want to be forced to deal with all the \something notations manually.

I tried to turn it into bytes then use str as a construtor but that doesn't work:

>>> str(io.BytesIO(ur'\n'.encode('utf-8')).read())
'\\n'

Are you sure it won't be interpreted as a line break? Do you mean repr(thestring) is '\n test' or "'\n test'"? — AdamKG, Jan 16 '12 at 12:05
It can't be interpreted as a line break. Line breaks are only interpreted in a string litteral, in the source code. This input comes from the web, if you want to have a code equivalent, you need to write a litteral with the 'r' prefix. — Bite code, Jan 16 '12 at 12:08
What do you mean by isn't interpreted as a line break? Are you maybe getting `'\\n'` instead? — jcollado, Jan 16 '12 at 12:08
I can not delete it because it has answers. I'm voting to close. — Bite code, Jan 16 '12 at 12:21

score 15 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:24

15

Use .decode('string_escape')

>>> print "foo\\nbar\\n\\tbaz"
foo\nbar\n\tbaz
>>> print "foo\\nbar\\n\\tbaz".decode('string_escape')
foo
bar
        baz

As I'm typing in code, the above have to escape the \ to make the string contain the 2 characters \n

edited May 23 '17 at 12:24

Community

answered Jan 16 '12 at 12:09

nos

1 Answers1