python 3.0, how to make print() output unicode?

Question

I'm working in WinXP 5.1.2600, writing a Python application involving Chinese pinyin, which has involved me in endless Unicode problems. Switching to Python 3.0 has solved many of them. But the print() function for console output is not Unicode-aware for some odd reason. Here's a teeny program.

print('sys.stdout encoding is "' + sys.stdout.encoding + '"')
str1 = 'lüelā'
print(str1)

Output is (changing angle brackets to square brackets for readability):

    sys.stdout encoding is "cp1252"
    Traceback (most recent call last):
      File "TestPrintEncoding.py", line 22, in [module]
        print(str1)
      File "C:\Python30\lib\io.py", line 1491, in write
        b = encoder.encode(s)
      File "C:\Python30\lib\encodings\cp1252.py", line 19, in encode
        return codecs.charmap_encode(input,self.errors,encoding_table)[0]
    UnicodeEncodeError: 'charmap' codec can't encode character '\u0101' 
    in position 4: character maps to [undefined]

Note that ü = \xfc = 252 gives no problem since it's upper ASCII. But ā = \u0101 is beyond 8-bits.

Anyone have an idea how to change the encoding of sys.stdout to 'utf-8'? Bear in mind that Python 3.0 no longer uses the codecs module, if I understand the documentation right.

Answer 1

Apologies, I gave you the program without the preamble. Before the 3 lines given, it starts like this:

#!/usr/bin/env python
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-

import sys

Unfortunately, the coding specified by the "coding:" line is the coding of the source code, not of the console output. But thank you for your thoughts!

Answer 2

The Windows command prompt (cmd.exe) cannot display the Unicode characters you are using, even though Python is handling it in a correct manner internally. You need to use IDLE, Cygwin, or another program that can display Unicode correctly.

See this thread for a full explanation: http://www.nabble.com/unable-to-print-Unicode-characters-in-Python-3-td21670662.html

Answer 3

Check out the question and answer here, I think they have some valuable clues. Specifically, note the setdefaultencoding in the sys module, but also the fact that you probably shouldn't use it.

Answer 4

You may want to try changing the environment variable "PYTHONIOENCODING" to "utf_8." I have written a page on my ordeal with this problem.