String .format() vs. % formatting with Unicode data

Question

With

print("    {:d}). {:s} ({:d})".format(i, account, num_char))

I get the error:

UnicodeEncodeError: 'ascii' codec can't encode character u'\xe9' in position 4: ordinal not in range(128)

but when I change it to:

print "    %d). %s (%d)" % (i, account, num_char)

then there are no problem and output is identical with both prints.

So what is wrong in the first expression and why does it work in the second?

.encode("utf-8") but how is the output identical in both prints if one causes an error? — Padraic Cunningham
– Padraic Cunningham, Commented Feb 15, 2015 at 19:34
@Karl Knechtel My question was in title... but someone was change my title :) I ask why the first print was with error when second is ok — XnIcRaM
– XnIcRaM, Commented Feb 15, 2015 at 19:59
Yes, the question should not have been deleted in the edit, still I like the title because it is much more specific than "What is wrong with..." which is too generic. I edited and put the question where it belongs (in the question body). Hope it's okay. — NoDataDumpNoContribution
– NoDataDumpNoContribution, Commented Feb 15, 2015 at 21:07

Selcuk · Accepted Answer · 2015-02-15 19:45:02Z

8

In the first example, you are calling the format method of str object passing unicode arguments. This causes an error. You should use

print(u"    {:d}). {:s} ({:d})".format(i, account, num_char))

instead.

In the second one, you are using the % operator which automatically returns unicode when either format or object is unicode. From the docs:

If the object or format provided is a unicode string, the resulting string will also be unicode.

answered Feb 15, 2015 at 19:45

Selcuk

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