IOError: [Errno 22] invalid mode ('r') or

Question

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• Region: IOError: [Errno 22] invalid mode ('w') or filename 4 answers

What is wrong with the following:

test_file=open('c:\\Python27\test.txt','r')

Answer 1

\ is an escape character in Python. \t gets interpreted as a tab. If you need \ character in a string, you have to use \\.

Your code should be:
test_file=open('c:\\Python27\\test.txt','r')

Answer 2

\t in a string marks an escape sequence for a tab character. For a literal \, use \\.

Answer 3

always use 'r' to get a raw string when you want to avoid escape.

test_file=open(r'c:\Python27\test.txt','r')

Answer 4

\t is a tab character. Use a raw string instead:

test_file=open(r'c:\Python27\test.txt','r')

or double the slashes:

test_file=open('c:\\Python27\\test.txt','r')

or use forward slashes instead:

test_file=open('c:/Python27/test.txt','r')