[python] python replace single backslash with double backslash

In python, I am trying to replace a single backslash ("\") with a double backslash("\"). I have the following code:

directory = string.replace("C:\Users\Josh\Desktop\20130216", "\", "\\")

However, this gives an error message saying it doesn't like the double backslash. Can anyone help?

Maybe a syntax error in your case, you may change the line to:

directory = str(r"C:\Users\Josh\Desktop\20130216").replace('\\','\\\\')

which give you the right following output:

C:\\Users\\Josh\\Desktop\\20130216

Use:

string.replace(r"C:\Users\Josh\Desktop\20130216", "\\", "\\")

Escape the \ character.

Let me make it simple and clear. Lets use the re module in python to escape the special characters.

Python script :

import re
s = "C:\Users\Josh\Desktop"
print s
print re.escape(s)

Output :

C:\Users\Josh\Desktop
C:\\Users\\Josh\\Desktop

Explanation :

Now observe that re.escape function on escaping the special chars in the given string we able to add an other backslash before each backslash, and finally the output results in a double backslash, the desired output.

Hope this helps you.

Given the source string, manipulation with os.path might make more sense, but here's a string solution;

>>> s=r"C:\Users\Josh\Desktop\\20130216"
>>> '\\\\'.join(filter(bool, s.split('\\')))
'C:\\\\Users\\\\Josh\\\\Desktop\\\\20130216'

Note that split treats the \\ in the source string as a delimited empty string. Using filter gets rid of those empty strings so join won't double the already doubled backslashes. Unfortunately, if you have 3 or more, they get reduced to doubled backslashes, but I don't think that hurts you in a windows path expression.

The backslash indicates a special escape character. Therefore, directory = path_to_directory.replace("\", "\\") would cause Python to think that the first argument to replace didn't end until the starting quotation of the second argument since it understood the ending quotation as an escape character.

directory=path_to_directory.replace("\\","\\\\")

In python \ (backslash) is used as an escape character. What this means that in places where you wish to insert a special character (such as newline), you would use the backslash and another character (\n for newline)

With your example string you would notice that when you put "C:\Users\Josh\Desktop\20130216" in the repl you will get "C:\\Users\\Josh\\Desktop\x8130216". This is because \2 has a special meaning in a python string. If you wish to specify \ then you need to put two \\ in your string.

"C:\\Users\\Josh\\Desktop\\28130216"

The other option is to notify python that your entire string must NOT use \ as an escape character by pre-pending the string with r

r"C:\Users\Josh\Desktop\20130216"

This is a "raw" string, and very useful in situations where you need to use lots of backslashes such as with regular expression strings.

In case you still wish to replace that single \ with \\ you would then use:

directory = string.replace(r"C:\Users\Josh\Desktop\20130216", "\\", "\\\\")

Notice that I am not using r' in the last two strings above. This is because, when you use the r' form of strings you cannot end that string with a single \

Why can't Python's raw string literals end with a single backslash?

https://pythonconquerstheuniverse.wordpress.com/2008/06/04/gotcha-%E2%80%94-backslashes-are-escape-characters/

You could use

os.path.abspath(path_with_backlash)

it returns the path with \

Use escape characters: "full\\path\\here", "\\" and "\\\\"