Py3 - converting bytes to ascii

[Anjanesh Lekshminarayanan]

Using Python 3.0

res = urllib.request.urlopen(url)
f = open('file.txt', 'wb') # Since res.read() returns bytes
f.write(res.read())

But newline and return feeds are stored as b14, 58a as text in the text file.

So how do I to convert res.read() to ascii on opening the file in
ascii mode f = open('file.txt', 'w')?

Thanks

 

[Casey]

Using Python 3.0

So how do I to convert res.read() to ascii on opening the file in
ascii mode f = open('file.txt', 'w')?

I think this is what you are looking for:

res = urllib.request.urlopen(url)
f = open('file.txt', 'w')
f.write(res.read().decode('ascii'))

 

[John Machin]

Using Python 3.0

res = urllib.request.urlopen(url)
f = open('file.txt', 'wb') # Since res.read() returns bytes
f.write(res.read())

But newline and return feeds are stored as b14, 58a as text in the text file.

I can't imagine how a newline (aka line feed) and/or a carriage return
could end up being stored as "b14, 58a as text in the text file". What
are you using to view the output file?

Before you start trying to fix the problem, we need to understand it.
You can use Python itself to show you exactly what is in the file, in
a format that you can copy and paste into a news posting.

f = open('file.txt', 'rb')
data = f.read()
f.close()
print(ascii(data)) # Python 3.x
# print repr(data) # Python 2.x

So how do I to convert res.read() to ascii on opening the file in
ascii mode f = open('file.txt', 'w')?

Are you as sure as Casey is that your data is ASCII-only? Or are you
using "ascii" to mean "text" or "not binary"? Let's see your data
first.

Perhaps if you could give us a few clues like how much experience you
have in (Python 3.0, Python 2.x, using urllib, computer programming in
general) we could give you somewhat more focussed advice.

HTH,
John

 

[Anjanesh Lekshminarayanan]

The problem seems be solved with urllib.request.urlretrieve()
I think the binary information read() was giving had headers like
content-size - but not HTTP headers.
The first couple of bytes indicate how much content to read and after
reading that content, the next set of bytes indicate the next chunk.