How to use quopri.encode() in Python
The quopri.encode() function in Python performs quoted-printable encoding on data with few non-printable characters. quopri.encode() converts data with majority US ASCII characters to data with all US ASCII characters.
To use the quopri.encode() function, the program needs to import the quopri module as shown below:
import quopri
Prototype and parameters
quopri.encode() accepts input, output, and quotetabs as non-optional parameters.
- The
inputandoutputparameters accept binary file objects. Thequopri.encode()function encodes the input binary file and writes the quoted-printable encoded data to the output file.
- The
quotestabparameter accepts aTrueorFalsevalue. Thequopri.encode()function encodes spaces and tabs if thequotetabsis true; otherwise, it leaves them unencoded.
Note: Tabs and spaces at the end of a line are always encoded.
- The
headerparameter accepts aTrueorFalsevalue.quopri.encode()encodes spaces as underscores if theheaderis true; otherwise, it leaves them unencoded.
Note:
quopri.encode()usesFalseas the default value ofheader.
Explanation
The quopri.encode() function encodes all 8-bit value characters into a = and two hexadecimal digits except printable ASCII characters. For example, = has a decimal value of 61 and is encoded as =3D.
All ASCII characters with decimal values from 33 to 126 are printable and decoded as well as encoded as themselves. An exception is = with an ASCII value of 61.
A space with ASCII value 9 and a tab with ASCII value 32 is encoded as themselves.
Examples
The following code demonstrates the use of the quopri.encode() function:
import quopri
from io import BytesIO
#Example 1
#example text
text = 'This text contains ünicöde'
#create an output file
outputFile = BytesIO()
#create an input file
inputFile= BytesIO((text).encode('utf-8'))
#Encode
quopri.encode(inputFile, outputFile, quotetabs = False)
#get content of the encoded file
print(outputFile.getvalue())
#Example 2
inputFile2= BytesIO((text).encode('utf-8'))
outputFile2 = BytesIO()
quopri.encode(inputFile2, outputFile2, quotetabs = True)
print(outputFile2.getvalue())
#Example 3
inputFile3= BytesIO((text).encode('utf-8'))
outputFile3 = BytesIO()
quopri.encode(inputFile3, outputFile3, quotetabs = False, header = True)
print(outputFile3.getvalue())The example text contains two non-printable characters and three spaces.
The program creates input and output files using the BytesIO module. BytesIO creates an in-memory binary file-like object. Once created, the program can read from and write to it like a regular file.
The program displays the output through the getValue() function, which extracts the file’s contents.
Example 1
The quopri.encode() function takes the quotetabs parameter as False and displays the spaces as themselves as a result. The program encodes Unicode characters ü and ö as =C3=BC and =C3=B6 respectively.
Note:
utf-8encoding of Unicode characters can take up to four bytes.
Example 2
The quopri.encode() function takes the quotetabs parameter as False and encodes the spaces as =20 as a result.
Example 3
The quopri.encode() function takes the header parameter as True and encodes the spaces as _ as a result.
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