Can I convert a C string value to an escaped string literal

Question

In C   can I convert a string value to a string literal  the way I would see it in code  I would like to replace tabs  newlines  etc  with their escape sequences   If this code   Console WriteLine someString     produces   Hello World    I want this code   Console WriteLine ToLiteral someString      to produce    tHello r n tWorld  r n

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try   var t   HttpUtility JavaScriptStringEncode s

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Hallgrim s answer was excellent  Here s a small tweak in case you need to parse out additional whitespace characters and linebreaks with a c  regular expression  I needed this in the case of a serialized Json value for insertion into google sheets and ran into trouble as the code was inserting tabs     spaces  etc      provider GenerateCodeFromExpression new CodePrimitiveExpression input   writer  null     var literal   writer ToString      var r2   new Regex           n  s        RegexOptions ECMAScript     literal   r2 Replace literal         return literal

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I found this   private static string ToLiteral string input        using  var writer   new StringWriter                  using  var provider   CodeDomProvider CreateProvider  CSharp                          provider GenerateCodeFromExpression new CodePrimitiveExpression input   writer  null               return writer ToString                        This code   var input     tHello r n tWorld    Console WriteLine input   Console WriteLine ToLiteral input      Produces       Hello     World    tHello r n tWorld

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public static class StringHelpers       private static Dictionary lt string  string gt  escapeMapping   new Dictionary lt string  string gt                                                                        a      a               b      b               f      f               n      n               r      r               t      t               v      v               0      0                private static Regex escapeRegex   new Regex string Join      escapeMapping Keys ToArray           public static string Escape this string s                return escapeRegex Replace s  EscapeMatchEval              private static string EscapeMatchEval Match m                if  escapeMapping ContainsKey m Value                         return escapeMapping m Value                     return escapeMapping Regex Escape m Value

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Interesting question   If you can t find a better method  you can always replace  In case you re opting for it  you could use this C  Escape Sequence List       - single quote  needed for character literals    - double quote  needed for string literals   - backslash  0 - Unicode character 0  a - Alert  character 7   b - Backspace  character 8   f - Form feed  character 12   n - New line  character 10   r - Carriage return  character 13   t - Horizontal tab  character 9   v - Vertical quote  character 11   uxxxx - Unicode escape sequence for character with hex value xxxx  xn n  n  n  - Unicode escape sequence for character with hex value nnnn  variable length version of  uxxxx   Uxxxxxxxx - Unicode escape sequence for character with hex value xxxxxxxx  for generating surrogates     This list can be found in the C  Frequently Asked Questions What character escape sequences are available

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EDIT  A more structured approach  including all escape sequences for strings and chars   Doesn t replace unicode characters with their literal equivalent  Doesn t cook eggs  either   public class ReplaceString       static readonly IDictionary lt string  string gt  m replaceDict            new Dictionary lt string  string gt          const string ms regexEscapes       a b f n r t v             public static string StringLiteral string i string                return Regex Replace i string  ms regexEscapes  match              public static string CharLiteral char c                return c                     string Format    0     c              private static string match Match m                string match   m ToString            if  m replaceDict ContainsKey match                         return m replaceDict match                      throw new NotSupportedException               static ReplaceString                 m replaceDict Add   a      a            m replaceDict Add   b      b            m replaceDict Add   f      f            m replaceDict Add   n      n            m replaceDict Add   r      r            m replaceDict Add   t      t            m replaceDict Add   v      v             m replaceDict Add                       m replaceDict Add   0      0               The SO parser gets fooled by the verbatim version            of the string to replace -                  so use the  regular  version         m replaceDict Add                            static void Main string   args            string s    here s a    n tstring   to test           Console WriteLine ReplaceString StringLiteral s            Console WriteLine ReplaceString CharLiteral  c             Console WriteLine ReplaceString CharLiteral

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public static class StringEscape     static char   toEscape     0 x1 x2 x3 x4 x5 x6 a b t n v f r xe xf x10 x11 x12 x13 x14 x15 x16 x17 x18 x19 x1a x1b x1c x1d x1e x1f      ToCharArray      static string   literals      0  x0001  x0002  x0003  x0004  x0005  x0006  a  b  t  n  v  f  r  x000e  x000f  x0010  x0011  x0012  x0013  x0014  x0015  x0016  x0017  x0018  x0019  x001a  x001b  x001c  x001d  x001e  x001f  Split new char                public static string Escape this string input          int i   input IndexOfAny toEscape       if  i  lt  0  return input       var sb   new System Text StringBuilder input Length   5       int j   0      do             sb Append input  j  i - j         var c   input i         if  c  lt  0x20  sb Append literals c    else sb Append       Append c         while   i   input IndexOfAny toEscape  j     i    gt  0        return sb Append input  j  input Length - j  ToString

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try   var t   HttpUtility JavaScriptStringEncode s

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Code   string someString1     tHello r n tWorld  r n   string someString2      tHello r n tWorld  r n    Console WriteLine someString1   Console WriteLine someString2     Output       Hello     World    tHello r n tWorld  r n   Is this what you want

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I submit my own implementation  which handles null values and should be more performant on account of using array lookup tables  manual hex conversion  and avoiding switch statements   using System  using System Text  using System Linq   public static class StringLiteralEncoding     private static readonly char   HEX DIGIT LOWER    0123456789abcdef  ToCharArray      private static readonly char   LITERALENCODE ESCAPE CHARS     static StringLiteralEncoding            Per http   msdn microsoft com en-us library h21280bw aspx     var escapes   new string       aa     bb     ff     nn     rr     tt     vv                           00         LITERALENCODE ESCAPE CHARS   new char escapes Max e   gt  e 0     1       foreach var escape in escapes        LITERALENCODE ESCAPE CHARS escape 0     escape 1               lt summary gt        Convert the string to the equivalent C  string literal  enclosing the string in double quotes and inserting       escape sequences as necessary         lt  summary gt         lt param name  s  gt The string to be converted to a C  string literal  lt  param gt         lt returns gt  lt paramref name  s   gt  represented as a C  string literal  lt  returns gt    public static string Encode string s        if null    s  return  null        var sb   new StringBuilder s Length   2  Append           for var rp   0  rp  lt  s Length  rp            var c   s rp         if c  lt  LITERALENCODE ESCAPE CHARS Length  amp  amp    0     LITERALENCODE ESCAPE CHARS c           sb Append       Append LITERALENCODE ESCAPE CHARS c          else if      gt   c  amp  amp  c  gt                sb Append c         else         sb Append    x              Append HEX DIGIT LOWER c  gt  gt  12  amp  0x0F              Append HEX DIGIT LOWER c  gt  gt   8  amp  0x0F              Append HEX DIGIT LOWER c  gt  gt   4  amp  0x0F              Append HEX DIGIT LOWER c        amp  0x0F               return sb Append      ToString

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EDIT  A more structured approach  including all escape sequences for strings and chars   Doesn t replace unicode characters with their literal equivalent  Doesn t cook eggs  either   public class ReplaceString       static readonly IDictionary lt string  string gt  m replaceDict            new Dictionary lt string  string gt          const string ms regexEscapes       a b f n r t v             public static string StringLiteral string i string                return Regex Replace i string  ms regexEscapes  match              public static string CharLiteral char c                return c                     string Format    0     c              private static string match Match m                string match   m ToString            if  m replaceDict ContainsKey match                         return m replaceDict match                      throw new NotSupportedException               static ReplaceString                 m replaceDict Add   a      a            m replaceDict Add   b      b            m replaceDict Add   f      f            m replaceDict Add   n      n            m replaceDict Add   r      r            m replaceDict Add   t      t            m replaceDict Add   v      v             m replaceDict Add                       m replaceDict Add   0      0               The SO parser gets fooled by the verbatim version            of the string to replace -                  so use the  regular  version         m replaceDict Add                            static void Main string   args            string s    here s a    n tstring   to test           Console WriteLine ReplaceString StringLiteral s            Console WriteLine ReplaceString CharLiteral  c             Console WriteLine ReplaceString CharLiteral

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EDIT  A more structured approach  including all escape sequences for strings and chars   Doesn t replace unicode characters with their literal equivalent  Doesn t cook eggs  either   public class ReplaceString       static readonly IDictionary lt string  string gt  m replaceDict            new Dictionary lt string  string gt          const string ms regexEscapes       a b f n r t v             public static string StringLiteral string i string                return Regex Replace i string  ms regexEscapes  match              public static string CharLiteral char c                return c                     string Format    0     c              private static string match Match m                string match   m ToString            if  m replaceDict ContainsKey match                         return m replaceDict match                      throw new NotSupportedException               static ReplaceString                 m replaceDict Add   a      a            m replaceDict Add   b      b            m replaceDict Add   f      f            m replaceDict Add   n      n            m replaceDict Add   r      r            m replaceDict Add   t      t            m replaceDict Add   v      v             m replaceDict Add                       m replaceDict Add   0      0               The SO parser gets fooled by the verbatim version            of the string to replace -                  so use the  regular  version         m replaceDict Add                            static void Main string   args            string s    here s a    n tstring   to test           Console WriteLine ReplaceString StringLiteral s            Console WriteLine ReplaceString CharLiteral  c             Console WriteLine ReplaceString CharLiteral

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public static class StringHelpers       private static Dictionary lt string  string gt  escapeMapping   new Dictionary lt string  string gt                                                                        a      a               b      b               f      f               n      n               r      r               t      t               v      v               0      0                private static Regex escapeRegex   new Regex string Join      escapeMapping Keys ToArray           public static string Escape this string s                return escapeRegex Replace s  EscapeMatchEval              private static string EscapeMatchEval Match m                if  escapeMapping ContainsKey m Value                         return escapeMapping m Value                     return escapeMapping Regex Escape m Value

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I found this   private static string ToLiteral string input        using  var writer   new StringWriter                  using  var provider   CodeDomProvider CreateProvider  CSharp                          provider GenerateCodeFromExpression new CodePrimitiveExpression input   writer  null               return writer ToString                        This code   var input     tHello r n tWorld    Console WriteLine input   Console WriteLine ToLiteral input      Produces       Hello     World    tHello r n tWorld

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I submit my own implementation  which handles null values and should be more performant on account of using array lookup tables  manual hex conversion  and avoiding switch statements   using System  using System Text  using System Linq   public static class StringLiteralEncoding     private static readonly char   HEX DIGIT LOWER    0123456789abcdef  ToCharArray      private static readonly char   LITERALENCODE ESCAPE CHARS     static StringLiteralEncoding            Per http   msdn microsoft com en-us library h21280bw aspx     var escapes   new string       aa     bb     ff     nn     rr     tt     vv                           00         LITERALENCODE ESCAPE CHARS   new char escapes Max e   gt  e 0     1       foreach var escape in escapes        LITERALENCODE ESCAPE CHARS escape 0     escape 1               lt summary gt        Convert the string to the equivalent C  string literal  enclosing the string in double quotes and inserting       escape sequences as necessary         lt  summary gt         lt param name  s  gt The string to be converted to a C  string literal  lt  param gt         lt returns gt  lt paramref name  s   gt  represented as a C  string literal  lt  returns gt    public static string Encode string s        if null    s  return  null        var sb   new StringBuilder s Length   2  Append           for var rp   0  rp  lt  s Length  rp            var c   s rp         if c  lt  LITERALENCODE ESCAPE CHARS Length  amp  amp    0     LITERALENCODE ESCAPE CHARS c           sb Append       Append LITERALENCODE ESCAPE CHARS c          else if      gt   c  amp  amp  c  gt                sb Append c         else         sb Append    x              Append HEX DIGIT LOWER c  gt  gt  12  amp  0x0F              Append HEX DIGIT LOWER c  gt  gt   8  amp  0x0F              Append HEX DIGIT LOWER c  gt  gt   4  amp  0x0F              Append HEX DIGIT LOWER c        amp  0x0F               return sb Append      ToString

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public static class StringHelpers       private static Dictionary lt string  string gt  escapeMapping   new Dictionary lt string  string gt                                                                        a      a               b      b               f      f               n      n               r      r               t      t               v      v               0      0                private static Regex escapeRegex   new Regex string Join      escapeMapping Keys ToArray           public static string Escape this string s                return escapeRegex Replace s  EscapeMatchEval              private static string EscapeMatchEval Match m                if  escapeMapping ContainsKey m Value                         return escapeMapping m Value                     return escapeMapping Regex Escape m Value

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If JSON conventions are enough for the unescaped strings you want to get escaped and you already use Newtonsoft Jsonin your project  it has a pretty large overhead  you may use this package like the following   using System  using Newtonsoft Json   public class Program       public static void Main             Console WriteLine ToLiteral    abc n123                 private static string ToLiteral string input           return JsonConvert DeserializeObject lt string gt         input

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There s a method for this in Roslyn s Microsoft CodeAnalysis CSharp package on nuget        private static string ToLiteral string valueTextForCompiler                return Microsoft CodeAnalysis CSharp SymbolDisplay FormatLiteral valueTextForCompiler  false           Obviously this didn t exist at the time of the original question  but might help people who end up here from Google

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There s a method for this in Roslyn s Microsoft CodeAnalysis CSharp package on nuget        private static string ToLiteral string valueTextForCompiler                return Microsoft CodeAnalysis CSharp SymbolDisplay FormatLiteral valueTextForCompiler  false           Obviously this didn t exist at the time of the original question  but might help people who end up here from Google

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Hallgrim s answer is excellent  but the      newline and indent additions were breaking functionality for me   An easy way around it is   private static string ToLiteral string input        using  var writer   new StringWriter                  using  var provider   CodeDomProvider CreateProvider  CSharp                          provider GenerateCodeFromExpression new CodePrimitiveExpression input   writer  new CodeGeneratorOptions  IndentString     t                 var literal   writer ToString                literal   literal Replace string Format       0  t     Environment NewLine                    return literal

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Interesting question   If you can t find a better method  you can always replace  In case you re opting for it  you could use this C  Escape Sequence List       - single quote  needed for character literals    - double quote  needed for string literals   - backslash  0 - Unicode character 0  a - Alert  character 7   b - Backspace  character 8   f - Form feed  character 12   n - New line  character 10   r - Carriage return  character 13   t - Horizontal tab  character 9   v - Vertical quote  character 11   uxxxx - Unicode escape sequence for character with hex value xxxx  xn n  n  n  - Unicode escape sequence for character with hex value nnnn  variable length version of  uxxxx   Uxxxxxxxx - Unicode escape sequence for character with hex value xxxxxxxx  for generating surrogates     This list can be found in the C  Frequently Asked Questions What character escape sequences are available

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Code   string someString1     tHello r n tWorld  r n   string someString2      tHello r n tWorld  r n    Console WriteLine someString1   Console WriteLine someString2     Output       Hello     World    tHello r n tWorld  r n   Is this what you want

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What about Regex Escape String        Regex Escape escapes a minimal set of characters                                         and white space  by replacing them with their escape   codes

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Code   string someString1     tHello r n tWorld  r n   string someString2      tHello r n tWorld  r n    Console WriteLine someString1   Console WriteLine someString2     Output       Hello     World    tHello r n tWorld  r n   Is this what you want

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I found this   private static string ToLiteral string input        using  var writer   new StringWriter                  using  var provider   CodeDomProvider CreateProvider  CSharp                          provider GenerateCodeFromExpression new CodePrimitiveExpression input   writer  null               return writer ToString                        This code   var input     tHello r n tWorld    Console WriteLine input   Console WriteLine ToLiteral input      Produces       Hello     World    tHello r n tWorld

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public static class StringEscape     static char   toEscape     0 x1 x2 x3 x4 x5 x6 a b t n v f r xe xf x10 x11 x12 x13 x14 x15 x16 x17 x18 x19 x1a x1b x1c x1d x1e x1f      ToCharArray      static string   literals      0  x0001  x0002  x0003  x0004  x0005  x0006  a  b  t  n  v  f  r  x000e  x000f  x0010  x0011  x0012  x0013  x0014  x0015  x0016  x0017  x0018  x0019  x001a  x001b  x001c  x001d  x001e  x001f  Split new char                public static string Escape this string input          int i   input IndexOfAny toEscape       if  i  lt  0  return input       var sb   new System Text StringBuilder input Length   5       int j   0      do             sb Append input  j  i - j         var c   input i         if  c  lt  0x20  sb Append literals c    else sb Append       Append c         while   i   input IndexOfAny toEscape  j     i    gt  0        return sb Append input  j  input Length - j  ToString

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public static class StringHelpers       private static Dictionary lt string  string gt  escapeMapping   new Dictionary lt string  string gt                                                                        a      a               b      b               f      f               n      n               r      r               t      t               v      v               0      0                private static Regex escapeRegex   new Regex string Join      escapeMapping Keys ToArray           public static string Escape this string s                return escapeRegex Replace s  EscapeMatchEval              private static string EscapeMatchEval Match m                if  escapeMapping ContainsKey m Value                         return escapeMapping m Value                     return escapeMapping Regex Escape m Value

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I found this   private static string ToLiteral string input        using  var writer   new StringWriter                  using  var provider   CodeDomProvider CreateProvider  CSharp                          provider GenerateCodeFromExpression new CodePrimitiveExpression input   writer  null               return writer ToString                        This code   var input     tHello r n tWorld    Console WriteLine input   Console WriteLine ToLiteral input      Produces       Hello     World    tHello r n tWorld

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Here is a little improvement for Smilediver s answer  it will not escape all no-ASCII chars but only these are really needed   using System  using System Globalization  using System Text   public static class CodeHelper       public static string ToLiteral this string input                var literal   new StringBuilder input Length   2           literal Append                foreach  var c in input                        switch  c                                case       literal Append         break                  case       literal Append          break                  case       literal Append         break                  case   0   literal Append    0    break                  case   a   literal Append    a    break                  case   b   literal Append    b    break                  case   f   literal Append    f    break                  case   n   literal Append    n    break                  case   r   literal Append    r    break                  case   t   literal Append    t    break                  case   v   literal Append    v    break                  default                      if  Char GetUnicodeCategory c     UnicodeCategory Control                                                literal Append c                                             else                                               literal Append    u                            literal Append   ushort c  ToString  x4                                               break                                  literal Append                return literal ToString

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Fully working implementation  including escaping of Unicode and ASCII non printable characters  Does not insert     signs like Hallgrim s answer       static string ToLiteral string input            StringBuilder literal   new StringBuilder input Length   2           literal Append                foreach  var c in input                switch  c                    case       literal Append         break                  case       literal Append          break                  case       literal Append         break                  case   0   literal Append    0    break                  case   a   literal Append    a    break                  case   b   literal Append    b    break                  case   f   literal Append    f    break                  case   n   literal Append    n    break                  case   r   literal Append    r    break                  case   t   literal Append    t    break                  case   v   literal Append    v    break                  default                         ASCII printable character                     if  c  gt   0x20  amp  amp  c  lt   0x7e                            literal Append c                          As UTF16 escaped character                       else                           literal Append    u                            literal Append   int c  ToString  x4                                               break                                  literal Append                return literal ToString

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What about Regex Escape String        Regex Escape escapes a minimal set of characters                                         and white space  by replacing them with their escape   codes

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EDIT  A more structured approach  including all escape sequences for strings and chars   Doesn t replace unicode characters with their literal equivalent  Doesn t cook eggs  either   public class ReplaceString       static readonly IDictionary lt string  string gt  m replaceDict            new Dictionary lt string  string gt          const string ms regexEscapes       a b f n r t v             public static string StringLiteral string i string                return Regex Replace i string  ms regexEscapes  match              public static string CharLiteral char c                return c                     string Format    0     c              private static string match Match m                string match   m ToString            if  m replaceDict ContainsKey match                         return m replaceDict match                      throw new NotSupportedException               static ReplaceString                 m replaceDict Add   a      a            m replaceDict Add   b      b            m replaceDict Add   f      f            m replaceDict Add   n      n            m replaceDict Add   r      r            m replaceDict Add   t      t            m replaceDict Add   v      v             m replaceDict Add                       m replaceDict Add   0      0               The SO parser gets fooled by the verbatim version            of the string to replace -                  so use the  regular  version         m replaceDict Add                            static void Main string   args            string s    here s a    n tstring   to test           Console WriteLine ReplaceString StringLiteral s            Console WriteLine ReplaceString CharLiteral  c             Console WriteLine ReplaceString CharLiteral

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Code   string someString1     tHello r n tWorld  r n   string someString2      tHello r n tWorld  r n    Console WriteLine someString1   Console WriteLine someString2     Output       Hello     World    tHello r n tWorld  r n   Is this what you want

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If JSON conventions are enough for the unescaped strings you want to get escaped and you already use Newtonsoft Jsonin your project  it has a pretty large overhead  you may use this package like the following   using System  using Newtonsoft Json   public class Program       public static void Main             Console WriteLine ToLiteral    abc n123                 private static string ToLiteral string input           return JsonConvert DeserializeObject lt string gt         input

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Fully working implementation  including escaping of Unicode and ASCII non printable characters  Does not insert     signs like Hallgrim s answer       static string ToLiteral string input            StringBuilder literal   new StringBuilder input Length   2           literal Append                foreach  var c in input                switch  c                    case       literal Append         break                  case       literal Append          break                  case       literal Append         break                  case   0   literal Append    0    break                  case   a   literal Append    a    break                  case   b   literal Append    b    break                  case   f   literal Append    f    break                  case   n   literal Append    n    break                  case   r   literal Append    r    break                  case   t   literal Append    t    break                  case   v   literal Append    v    break                  default                         ASCII printable character                     if  c  gt   0x20  amp  amp  c  lt   0x7e                            literal Append c                          As UTF16 escaped character                       else                           literal Append    u                            literal Append   int c  ToString  x4                                               break                                  literal Append                return literal ToString

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Interesting question   If you can t find a better method  you can always replace  In case you re opting for it  you could use this C  Escape Sequence List       - single quote  needed for character literals    - double quote  needed for string literals   - backslash  0 - Unicode character 0  a - Alert  character 7   b - Backspace  character 8   f - Form feed  character 12   n - New line  character 10   r - Carriage return  character 13   t - Horizontal tab  character 9   v - Vertical quote  character 11   uxxxx - Unicode escape sequence for character with hex value xxxx  xn n  n  n  - Unicode escape sequence for character with hex value nnnn  variable length version of  uxxxx   Uxxxxxxxx - Unicode escape sequence for character with hex value xxxxxxxx  for generating surrogates     This list can be found in the C  Frequently Asked Questions What character escape sequences are available

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Here is a little improvement for Smilediver s answer  it will not escape all no-ASCII chars but only these are really needed   using System  using System Globalization  using System Text   public static class CodeHelper       public static string ToLiteral this string input                var literal   new StringBuilder input Length   2           literal Append                foreach  var c in input                        switch  c                                case       literal Append         break                  case       literal Append          break                  case       literal Append         break                  case   0   literal Append    0    break                  case   a   literal Append    a    break                  case   b   literal Append    b    break                  case   f   literal Append    f    break                  case   n   literal Append    n    break                  case   r   literal Append    r    break                  case   t   literal Append    t    break                  case   v   literal Append    v    break                  default                      if  Char GetUnicodeCategory c     UnicodeCategory Control                                                literal Append c                                             else                                               literal Append    u                            literal Append   ushort c  ToString  x4                                               break                                  literal Append                return literal ToString

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Interesting question   If you can t find a better method  you can always replace  In case you re opting for it  you could use this C  Escape Sequence List       - single quote  needed for character literals    - double quote  needed for string literals   - backslash  0 - Unicode character 0  a - Alert  character 7   b - Backspace  character 8   f - Form feed  character 12   n - New line  character 10   r - Carriage return  character 13   t - Horizontal tab  character 9   v - Vertical quote  character 11   uxxxx - Unicode escape sequence for character with hex value xxxx  xn n  n  n  - Unicode escape sequence for character with hex value nnnn  variable length version of  uxxxx   Uxxxxxxxx - Unicode escape sequence for character with hex value xxxxxxxx  for generating surrogates     This list can be found in the C  Frequently Asked Questions What character escape sequences are available

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Hallgrim s answer is excellent  but the      newline and indent additions were breaking functionality for me   An easy way around it is   private static string ToLiteral string input        using  var writer   new StringWriter                  using  var provider   CodeDomProvider CreateProvider  CSharp                          provider GenerateCodeFromExpression new CodePrimitiveExpression input   writer  new CodeGeneratorOptions  IndentString     t                 var literal   writer ToString                literal   literal Replace string Format       0  t     Environment NewLine                    return literal

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My attempt at adding ToVerbatim to Hallgrim s accepted answer above   private static string ToLiteral string input        using  var writer   new StringWriter                  using  var provider   CodeDomProvider CreateProvider  CSharp                          provider GenerateCodeFromExpression new CodePrimitiveExpression input   writer  new CodeGeneratorOptions   IndentString     t                  var literal   writer ToString                literal   literal Replace string Format       0  t     Environment NewLine                               return literal                     private static string ToVerbatim  string input         string literal   ToLiteral  input        string verbatim         literal Replace     r n   Environment NewLine        return verbatim

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My attempt at adding ToVerbatim to Hallgrim s accepted answer above   private static string ToLiteral string input        using  var writer   new StringWriter                  using  var provider   CodeDomProvider CreateProvider  CSharp                          provider GenerateCodeFromExpression new CodePrimitiveExpression input   writer  new CodeGeneratorOptions   IndentString     t                  var literal   writer ToString                literal   literal Replace string Format       0  t     Environment NewLine                               return literal                     private static string ToVerbatim  string input         string literal   ToLiteral  input        string verbatim         literal Replace     r n   Environment NewLine        return verbatim

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Hallgrim s answer was excellent  Here s a small tweak in case you need to parse out additional whitespace characters and linebreaks with a c  regular expression  I needed this in the case of a serialized Json value for insertion into google sheets and ran into trouble as the code was inserting tabs     spaces  etc      provider GenerateCodeFromExpression new CodePrimitiveExpression input   writer  null     var literal   writer ToString      var r2   new Regex           n  s        RegexOptions ECMAScript     literal   r2 Replace literal         return literal

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