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 f = open("‪C:\Users\aleed_000\Desktop\dis.txt","r")
 print (f.read())
 f.close()

Can anyone explain why this doesn't read from my file named dis.txt? When I tried to run it, it says error, and then highlights the open paren. I don't understand what is wrong.

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    Please post the whole traceback. Commented Jun 30, 2013 at 17:20

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Use a raw string or escape each '\' by prefixing another '\' to it:

because C:\Users\aleed_000\Desktop\dis.txt is actually interpreted like this:

>>> print ("‪C:\Users\aleed_000\Desktop\dis.txt") # '\a' gets escaped
C:\Usersleed_000\Desktop\dis.txt

Raw string:

>>> print (r"‪C:\Users\aleed_000\Desktop\dis.txt")  #notice the r at the start
C:\Users\aleed_000\Desktop\dis.txt

Escape each '\':

>>> print ("‪C:\\Users\\aleed_000\\Desktop\\dis.txt")
C:\Users\aleed_000\Desktop\dis.txt
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3 Comments

Or escape every \ character: "‪C:\\Users\\aleed_000\\Desktop\\dis.txt". Each solution works fine :)
When I use the first piece of code (the example print code) I get SyntaxError: invalid character in identifier, when is of course not what you got
@user2317745 Please post that in the question body.

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