Python Find Non Printable Characters

What are Non-Printable Characters?

When working with text data in Python, it's not uncommon to encounter non-printable characters. These characters, also known as control characters, are not visible when printed but can still affect the behavior of your program. In this article, we'll explore the importance of identifying non-printable characters and how to do it in Python.

Non-printable characters can be problematic because they can cause issues with data processing, parsing, and storage. For instance, if you're reading a text file that contains non-printable characters, it may lead to errors or unexpected behavior in your program. Therefore, it's essential to detect and handle these characters properly.

Finding Non-Printable Characters in Python

What are Non-Printable Characters? Non-printable characters are ASCII characters that have a value between 0 and 31, as well as 127. These characters are not visible when printed and are often used for control purposes, such as newline, tab, and carriage return. Some common examples of non-printable characters include \n (newline), \t (tab), and \r (carriage return).

Finding Non-Printable Characters in Python To find non-printable characters in Python, you can use the built-in `ord()` function, which returns the Unicode code point for a given character. By iterating over a string and checking the Unicode code point of each character, you can identify non-printable characters. Alternatively, you can use regular expressions to match non-printable characters. With the right tools and techniques, you can efficiently detect and handle non-printable characters in your Python programs.