Python windows path slash [duplicate]

Question

I am facing a very basic problem using directory path in python script. When I do copy path from the windows explorer, it uses backward slash as path seperator which is causing problem.

>>> x
'D:\testfolder'
>>> print x
D:      estfolder
>>> print os.path.normpath(x)
D:      estfolder
>>> print os.path.abspath(x)
D:\     estfolder
>>> print x.replace('\\','/')
D:      estfolder

Can some one please help me to fix this.

Answer 1

Python interprets a \t in a string as a tab character; hence, "D:\testfolder" will print out with a tab between the : and the e, as you noticed. If you want an actual backslash, you need to escape the backslash by entering it as \\:

>>> x = "D:\\testfolder"
>>> print x
D:\testfolder

However, for cross-platform compatibility, you should probably use os.path.join. I think that Python on Windows will automatically handle forward slashes (/) properly, too.