Process escape sequences in a string in Python
Sometimes when I get input from a file or the user, I get a string with escape sequences in it. I would like to process the escape sequences in the same way that Python processes escape sequences in string literals.
For example, let's say myString is defined as:
>>> myString = "spam\\neggs"
>>> print(myString)
spam\neggs
I want a function (I'll call it process) that does this:
>>> print(process(myString))
spam
eggs
It's important that the function can process all of the escape sequences in Python (listed in a table in the link above).
Does Python have a function to do this?
Answer
The correct thing to do is use the 'string-escape' code to decode the string.
>>> myString = "spam\\neggs"
>>> decoded_string = bytes(myString, "utf-8").decode("unicode_escape") # python3
>>> decoded_string = myString.decode('string_escape') # python2
>>> print(decoded_string)
spam
eggs
Don't use the AST or eval. Using the string codecs is much safer.