Return to Answer

>>> escaped_str = 'One \\\'example\\\'' >>> print escaped_str.encode('string_escape') One \\\'example\\\' >>> print escaped_str.decode('string_escape') One 'example' 

Several similar codecs are available, such as rot13 and hex.

The above is Python 2.x, but – since you said (below, in a comment) that you're using Python 3.x – while it's circumlocutious to decode a Unicode string object, it's still possible. The codec has been renamed to "unicode_escape" too:

>>> escaped_str = "One \\\'example\\\'" >>> import codecs >>> print(codecs.getdecoder("unicode_escape")(escaped_str)[0]) One 'example' 

 >>> escaped_str = 'One \\\'example\\\'' >>> print escaped_str.encode('string_escape') One \\\'example\\\' >>> print escaped_str.decode('string_escape') One 'example' 

Several similar codecs are available, such as rot13 and hex.

The above is Python 2.x, but – since you said (below, in a comment) that you're using Python 3.x – while it's circumlocutious to decode a Unicode string object, it's still possible. The codec has been renamed to "unicode_escape" too:

 Python 3.3a0 (default:b6aafb20e5f5, Jul 29 2011, 05:34:11) [GCC 4.4.3] on linux2 Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information. >>> escaped_str = "One \\\'example\\\'" >>> import codecs >>> print(codecs.getdecoder("unicode_escape")(escaped_str)[0]) One 'example' 

 >>> escaped_str = 'One \\\'example\\\'' >>> print escaped_str.encode('string_escape') One \\\'example\\\' >>> print escaped_str.decode('string_escape') One 'example' 

Several similar codecs are available, such as rot13 and hex.

The above is Python 2.x, but – since you said (below, in a comment) that you're using Python 3.x – while it's circumlocutious to decode a Unicode string object, it's still possible. The codec has been renamed to "unicode_escape" too:

 Python 3.3a0 (default:b6aafb20e5f5, Jul 29 2011, 05:34:11) [GCC 4.4.3] on linux2 Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information. >>> escaped_str = "One \\\'example\\\'" >>> import codecs >>> print(codecs.getdecoder("unicode_escape")(escaped_str)[0]) One 'example' 

>>> escaped_str = 'One \\\'example\\\'' >>> print escaped_str.encode('string_escape') One \\\'example\\\' >>> print escaped_str.decode('string_escape') One 'example' 

Several similar codecs are available, such as rot13 and hex.

The above is Python 2.x, but – since you said (below, in a comment) that you're using Python 3.x – while it's circumlocutious to decode a Unicode string object, it's still possible. The codec has been renamed to "unicode_escape" too:

>>> escaped_str = "One \\\'example\\\'" >>> import codecs >>> print(codecs.getdecoder("unicode_escape")(escaped_str)[0]) One 'example' 

 >>> escaped_str = 'One \\\'example\\\'' >>> print escaped_str.encode('string_escape') One \\\'example\\\' >>> print escaped_str.decode('string_escape') One 'example' 

Several similar codecs are available, such as rot13 and hex.

 >>> escaped_str = 'One \\\'example\\\'' >>> print escaped_str.encode('string_escape') One \\\'example\\\' >>> print escaped_str.decode('string_escape') One 'example' 

Several similar codecs are available, such as rot13 and hex.

The above is Python 2.x, but – since you said (below, in a comment) that you're using Python 3.x – while it's circumlocutious to decode a Unicode string object, it's still possible. The codec has been renamed to "unicode_escape" too:

 Python 3.3a0 (default:b6aafb20e5f5, Jul 29 2011, 05:34:11) [GCC 4.4.3] on linux2 Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information. >>> escaped_str = "One \\\'example\\\'" >>> import codecs >>> print(codecs.getdecoder("unicode_escape")(escaped_str)[0]) One 'example'