How Do I Convert a Bytes Object to a String in Python 3?

Converting Bytes to a String in Python 3

Problem:

You have captured the standard output of an external program into a bytes object and need to display it as a string. For example:

import subprocess
p = subprocess.Popen(['ls', '-l'], stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
stdout, _ = p.communicate()

This will result in a bytes object like:

b'total 0\n-rw-rw-r-- 1 thomas thomas 0 Mar  3 07:03 file1\n' 

Your goal is to convert this bytes object into a standard Python string.

Solution:

To convert a bytes object stdout to a string in Python 3, use the decode() method. This method takes the encoding of the bytes object as an argument. Here's how to do it:

decoded_stdout = stdout.decode("encoding")

Choosing the Encoding:

The encoding parameter specifies the character set used to decode the bytes. In the example given, UTF-8 is assumed as the default encoding. However, it's important to use the actual encoding of your data.

If you don't know the encoding, you can try using "utf-8". Alternatively, you can use a library like chardet to detect the encoding automatically.

Example:

Using UTF-8 as the assumed encoding:

decoded_stdout = stdout.decode("utf-8")

You can now print your decoded string:

print(decoded_stdout) 
# Output:
# -rw-rw-r-- 1 thomas thomas 0 Mar  3 07:03 file1

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