Python3 Bytes encoding

Question

I am working with python3 and I have a problem with the representation of an object.
It is the result of subprocess.Open().communicate()[0] , which is a bytes-array but when I pass it to another function, python interprets it as a string, which is not.
This is the array that i have:

b'N\\x00e\\x00l\\x00 \\x00s\\x00o\\x00t\\x00t\\x00o\\x00s\\x00i\\x00s\\x00t\\x00e\\x00m\\x00a\\x00 \\x00W\\x00i\\x00n\\x00d\\x00o\\x00w\\x00s\\x00 \\x00p\\x00e\\x00r\\x00 \\x00L\\x00i\\x00n\\x00u\\x00x\\x00 \\x00n\\x00o\\x00n\\x00 \\x00s\\x00o\\x00n\\x00o\\x00 \\x00i\\x00n\\x00s\\x00t\\x00a\\x00l\\x00l\\x00a\\x00t\\x00e\\x00 \\x00d\\x00i\\x00s\\x00t\\x00r\\x00i\\x00b\\x00u\\x00z\\x00i\\x00o\\x00n\\x00i\\x00.\\x00\\r\\x00\\r\\x00\\n\\x00L\\x00e\\x00 \\x00d\\x00i\\x00s\\x00t\\x00r\\x00i\\x00b\\x00u\\x00z\\x00i\\x00o\\x00n\\x00i\\x00 \\x00p\\x00o\\x00s\\x00s\\x00o\\x00n\\x00o\\x00 \\x00e\\x00s\\x00s\\x00e\\x00r\\x00e\\x00 \\x00i\\x00n\\x00s\\x00t\\x00a\\x00l\\x00l\\x00a\\x00t\\x00e\\x00 \\x00v\\x00i\\x00s\\x00i\\x00t\\x00a\\x00n\\x00d\\x00o\\x00 \\x00M\\x00i\\x00c\\x00r\\x00o\\x00s\\x00o\\x00f\\x00t\\x00 \\x00S\\x00t\\x00o\\x00r\\x00e\\x00:\\x00\\r\\x00\\r\\x00\\n\\x00h\\x00t\\x00t\\x00p\\x00s\\x00:\\x00/\\x00/\\x00a\\x00k\\x00a\\x00.\\x00m\\x00s\\x00/\\x00w\\x00s\\x00l\\x00s\\x00t\\x00o\\x00r\\x00e\\x00\\r\\x00\\r\\x00\\n\\x00'

Which is in ASCII encode, right?

My question is how can I encode it to see the right bytes values?
Or is there at least a way to pass it to the other function without it been recognised as a string, which is not?

Thanks!

Answer 1

You can decode it with .decode('utf-8') To remove the null bytes use .replace(b'\\x00', b'')

subprocessoutput = b'N\x00e\x00l\x00 \x00s\x00o\x00t\x00t\x00o\x00s\x00i\x00s\x00t\x00e\x00m\x00a\x00 \x00W\x00i\x00n\x00d\x00o\x00w\x00s\x00 \x00p\x00e\x00r\x00 \x00L\x00i\x00n\x00u\x00x\x00 \x00n\x00o\x00n\x00 \x00s\x00o\x00n\x00o\x00 \x00i\x00n\x00s\x00t\x00a\x00l\x00l\x00a\x00t\x00e\x00 \x00d\x00i\x00s\x00t\x00r\x00i\x00b\x00u\x00z\x00i\x00o\x00n\x00i\x00.\x00\r\x00\r\x00\n\x00L\x00e\x00 \x00d\x00i\x00s\x00t\x00r\x00i\x00b\x00u\x00z\x00i\x00o\x00n\x00i\x00 \x00p\x00o\x00s\x00s\x00o\x00n\x00o\x00 \x00e\x00s\x00s\x00e\x00r\x00e\x00 \x00i\x00n\x00s\x00t\x00a\x00l\x00l\x00a\x00t\x00e\x00 \x00v\x00i\x00s\x00i\x00t\x00a\x00n\x00d\x00o\x00 \x00M\x00i\x00c\x00r\x00o\x00s\x00o\x00f\x00t\x00 \x00S\x00t\x00o\x00r\x00e\x00:\x00\r\x00\r\x00\n\x00h\x00t\x00t\x00p\x00s\x00:\x00/\x00/\x00a\x00k\x00a\x00.\x00m\x00s\x00/\x00w\x00s\x00l\x00s\x00t\x00o\x00r\x00e\x00\r\x00\r\x00\n\x00'

print(subprocessoutput.replace(b'\x00', b'').decode('utf-8'))

edit: the following creates a list with the ascii numbers in decimal:

ascii = [ord(x) for x in subprocessoutput.decode('utf-8')]

Answer 2

The problem is this isn't UTF-8, it's UTF-16.

#!/bin/python3

var = b'N\x00e\x00l\x00 \x00s\x00o\x00t\x00t\x00o\x00s\x00i\x00s\x00t\x00e\x00m\x00a\x00 \x00W\x00i\x00n\x00d\x00o\x00w\x00s\x00 \x00p\x00e\x00r\x00 \x00L\x00i\x00n\x00u\x00x\x00 \x00n\x00o\x00n\x00 \x00s\x00o\x00n\x00o\x00 \x00i\x00n\x00s\x00t\x00a\x00l\x00l\x00a\x00t\x00e\x00 \x00d\x00i\x00s\x00t\x00r\x00i\x00b\x00u\x00z\x00i\x00o\x00n\x00i\x00.\x00\r\x00\r\x00\n\x00L\x00e\x00 \x00d\x00i\x00s\x00t\x00r\x00i\x00b\x00u\x00z\x00i\x00o\x00n\x00i\x00 \x00p\x00o\x00s\x00s\x00o\x00n\x00o\x00 \x00e\x00s\x00s\x00e\x00r\x00e\x00 \x00i\x00n\x00s\x00t\x00a\x00l\x00l\x00a\x00t\x00e\x00 \x00v\x00i\x00s\x00i\x00t\x00a\x00n\x00d\x00o\x00 \x00M\x00i\x00c\x00r\x00o\x00s\x00o\x00f\x00t\x00 \x00S\x00t\x00o\x00r\x00e\x00:\x00\r\x00\r\x00\n\x00h\x00t\x00t\x00p\x00s\x00:\x00/\x00/\x00a\x00k\x00a\x00.\x00m\x00s\x00/\x00w\x00s\x00l\x00s\x00t\x00o\x00r\x00e\x00\r\x00\r\x00\n\x00'

foo = str(var, 'utf-16')

print(foo)

This yields

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