How do i strip unicode in python?

• Introduction
• What are Unicode characters?
• Examples to remove Unicode characters
  • 1. Using encode() and decode() method
  • 2. Using replace() method to remove Unicode characters
  • 3. Using character.isalnum() method to remove special characters in Python
  • 4. Using regular expression to remove specific Unicode characters in Python
  • 5. Using ord() method and for loop to remove Unicode characters in Python
• Conclusion

Introduction

In python, we have discussed many concepts and conversions. But sometimes, we come to a situation where we need to remove the Unicode characters from the string. In this tutorial, we will be discussing how to remove all the Unicode characters from the string in python.

What are Unicode characters?

Unicode is an international encoding standard that is widely spread and has its acceptance all over the world. It is used with different languages and scripts by which each letter, digit, or symbol is assigned with a unique numeric value that applies across different platforms and programs.

Here, we will be discussing all the different ways through which we can remove all the Unicode characters from the string:

1. Using encode() and decode() method

In this example, we will be using the encode() function and the decode() function from removing the Unicode characters from the String. Encode() function will encode the string into ‘ASCII’ and error as ‘ignore’ to remove Unicode characters. Decode() function will then decode the string back in its form. Let us look at the example for understanding the concept in detail.

#input string
str = "This is Python \u500cPool"

#encode() method
strencode = str.encode("ascii", "ignore")

#decode() method
strdecode = strencode.decode()

#output
print("Output after removing Unicode characters : ",strdecode)

Output:

Explanation:

• Firstly, we will take an input string in the variable named str.
• Then, we will apply the encode() method, which will encode the string into ‘ASCII’ and error as ‘ignore’ to remove Unicode characters.
• After that, we will apply the decode() method, which will convert the byte string into the normal string format.
• At last, we will print the output.
• Hence, you can see the output string with all the removed Unicode characters.

2. Using replace() method to remove Unicode characters

In this example, we will be using replace() method for removing the Unicode characters from the string. Suppose you need to remove the particular Unicode character from the string, so you use the string.replace() method, which will remove the particular character from the string. Let us look at the example for understanding the concept in detail.

#input string
str = "This is Python \u300cPool"

#replace() method
strreplaced = str.replace('\u300c', '')

#output
print("Output after removing Unicode characters : ",strreplaced)

Output:

Explanation:

• Firstly, we will take an input string in the variable named str.
• Then, we will apply the replace() method in which we will replace the particular Unicode character with the empty space.
• At last, we will print the output.
• Hence, you can see the output string with all the removed Unicode characters.

3. Using character.isalnum() method to remove special characters in Python

In this example, we will be using the character.isalnum() method to remove the special characters from the string. Suppose we encounter a string in which we have the presence of slash or whitespaces or question marks. So, all these special characters can be removed with the help of the given method. Let us look at the example for understanding the concept in detail.

#input string
str = "This is /i !? Python pool tutorial?""
output = ""
for character in str:
    if character.isalnum():
        output += character
print(output)

Output:

Explanation:

• Firstly, we will take an input string in the variable named str.
• Then, we will take an empty string with the variable named output.
• After that, we will apply for loop from the first character to the last of the string.
• Then, we will check the if condition and append the character in the empty string.
• This process will continue until the last character in the string occurs.
• At last, we will print the output.
• Hence, you can see the output with all the special characters and white spaces removed from the string.

4. Using regular expression to remove specific Unicode characters in Python

In this example, we will be using the regular expression (re.sub() method) for removing the specific Unicode character from the string. This method contains three parameters in it, i.e., pattern, replace, and string. Let us look at the example for understanding the concept in detail.

#import re module
import re

#input string
str = "Pyéthonò Poòol!"

#re.sub() method
Output = re.sub(r"(\xe9|\362)", "", str)

#output
print("Removing specific charcater : ",Output)

Output:

Explanation:

• Firstly, we will import the re module.
• Then, we will take an input string in the variable named str.
• Then, we will apply the re.sub() method for removing the specific characters from the string and store the output in the Output variable.
• At last, we will print the output.
• Hence, you will see the output as the specific character removed from the string.

5. Using ord() method and for loop to remove Unicode characters in Python

In this example, we will be using the ord() method and a for loop for removing the Unicode characters from the string. Ord() method accepts the string of length 1 as an argument and is used to return the Unicode code point representation of the passed argument. Let us look at the example for understanding the concept in detail.

#input string
str = "This is Python \u500cPool"

#ord() function
output = ''.join([i if ord(i) < 128 else ' ' for i in str])

#output
print("After removing Unicode character : ",output)

Output:

Eplanation:

• Firstly, we will take an input string in the variable named str.
• Then, we will apply the join() function inside which we have applied the ord() method and for loop and store the output in the output variable.
• At last, we have printed the output.
• Hence, you can see the output as the Unicode characters are removed from the string.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have learned about the concept of removing the Unicode characters from the string. We have discussed all the ways through which we can remove the Unicode characters from the string. All the ways are explained in detail with the help of examples. You can use any of the functions according to your choice and your requirement in the program.

However, if you have any doubts or questions, do let me know in the comment section below. I will try to help you as soon as possible.