Python function to make arbitrary strings valid filenames

Question

Is there a built-in function which strips all characters which cannot be in Windows filenames from a string or replaces them somehow?

E.g. function("Some:unicode\symbols") --> "Some-unicode-symbols"

"all characters"? ASCII? Or Unicode? Replaces them "somehow"? Any specific suggestions on what you'd like to see? — S.Lott
– S.Lott, Commented Mar 9, 2011 at 19:50
Possible answer here? stackoverflow.com/questions/295135/… — bdk
– bdk, Commented Mar 9, 2011 at 19:54
Interesting but not an answer, whitelist is impossible for unicode, and blacklist is not portable (although if it won't work otherwise, I'll resort to a blacklist). — Felix Dombek
– Felix Dombek, Commented Mar 9, 2011 at 19:56

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 10:27:14Z

5

import re

arbitrary_string = "File!name?.txt"
cleaned_up_filename = re.sub(r'[/\\:*?"<>|]', '', arbitrary_string)
filepath = os.path.join("/tmp", cleaned_up_filename)

with open(filepath, 'wb') as f:
    # ...

Taken from User gx
Obviously adapt to your situation.

edited May 23, 2017 at 10:27

CommunityBot

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answered Mar 9, 2011 at 19:54

Elxx

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