How to base64 encode a PDF file in Python

Question

How should I base64 encode a PDF file for transport over XML-RPC in Python?

Answer 1

If you don't want to use the xmlrpclib's Binary class, you can just use the .encode() method of strings:

a = open("pdf_reference.pdf", "rb").read().encode("base64")

Answer 2

Actually, after some more digging, it looks like the xmlrpclib module may have the piece I need with it's Binary helper class:

binary_obj = xmlrpclib.Binary( open('foo.pdf').read() )

Here's an example from the Trac XML-RPC documentation

import xmlrpclib 
server = xmlrpclib.ServerProxy("http://athomas:password@localhost:8080/trunk/login/xmlrpc") 
server.wiki.putAttachment('WikiStart/t.py', xmlrpclib.Binary(open('t.py').read()))