Convert a Unicode string to an escaped ASCII string

Question

How can I convert this string:

This string contains the Unicode character Pi(π) 

into an escaped ASCII string:

This string contains the Unicode character Pi(\u03a0) 

and vice versa?

The current Encoding available in C# converts the π character to "?". I need to preserve that character.

Answer 1

This goes back and forth to and from the \uXXXX format.

class Program {     static void Main( string[] args ) {         string unicodeString = "This function contains a unicode character pi (\u03a0)";          Console.WriteLine( unicodeString );          string encoded = EncodeNonAsciiCharacters(unicodeString);         Console.WriteLine( encoded );          string decoded = DecodeEncodedNonAsciiCharacters( encoded );         Console.WriteLine( decoded );     }      static string EncodeNonAsciiCharacters( string value ) {         StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();         foreach( char c in value ) {             if( c > 127 ) {                 // This character is too big for ASCII                 string encodedValue = "\\u" + ((int) c).ToString( "x4" );                 sb.Append( encodedValue );             }             else {                 sb.Append( c );             }         }         return sb.ToString();     }      static string DecodeEncodedNonAsciiCharacters( string value ) {         return Regex.Replace(             value,             @"\\u(?<Value>[a-zA-Z0-9]{4})",             m => {                 return ((char) int.Parse( m.Groups["Value"].Value, NumberStyles.HexNumber )).ToString();             } );     } } 

Outputs:

This function contains a unicode character pi (π)

This function contains a unicode character pi (\u03a0)

This function contains a unicode character pi (π)