Reputation: 1853

How to use "\" in a string without making it an escape sequence - C#?

I'm sure this is something really basic that I don't know but how do I make it not recognize "\" as an escape sequence inside a string

I'm trying to type in a path and it thinks it is an escape sequence

Upvotes: 19

Answers (7)

Randy Burden

Reputation: 2661

Beginning with C# 11 and .NET 7, released in November 2022, you can use Raw String Literals to avoid having to escape characters.

Raw string literals

A raw string literal starts and ends with a minimum of three double quote (") characters:

string example = """This is a "raw string literal". It can contain characters like \, ' and ".""";

Console.WriteLine(example);

// Output is:
// This is a "raw string literal". It can contain characters like \, ' and ".

Raw string literals can contain arbitrary text, including whitespace, new lines, embedded quotes, and other special characters without requiring escape sequences. A raw string literal starts with at least three double-quote (""") characters. It ends with the same number of double-quote characters. Typically, a raw string literal uses three double quotes on a single line to start the string, and three double quotes on a separate line to end the string. The newlines following the opening quote and preceding the closing quote aren't included in the final content and any whitespace to the left of the closing double quotes will be removed from the string literal:

string longMessage = """
    This is a long message.
    It has several lines.
        Some are indented
                more than others.
    Some should start at the first column.
    Some have "quoted text" in them.
    """;
    
Console.WriteLine(longMessage);

// Output is:
/*
This is a long message.
It has several lines.
    Some are indented
        more than others.
Some should start at the first column.
Some have "quoted text" in them.
*/

Interpolated raw string literals

Raw string literals can be combined with string interpolation to include braces in the output text.

int X = 2;
int Y = 3;

var pointMessage = $"""The point "{X}, {Y}" is {Math.Sqrt(X * X + Y * Y):F3} from the origin""";

Console.WriteLine(pointMessage);
// Output is:
// The point "2, 3" is 3.606 from the origin

Multiple $ characters denote how many consecutive braces start and end the interpolation:

string latitude = "38.8977° N";
string longitude = "77.0365° W";

var location = $$"""
    You are at {{{latitude}}, {{longitude}}}
    """;
    
Console.WriteLine(location);

// Output is:
// You are at {38.8977° N, 77.0365° W}

The preceding example specifies that two braces start and end an interpolation. The third repeated opening and closing brace are included in the output string.

References:

Feature announcement: What's new in C# 11 - Raw string literals
Language reference: Built-in reference types - String literals
Language reference: Special characters - """ -- raw string literal
C# programming guide: Programming with strings - Raw string literal

Upvotes: 1

Ravinath

Reputation: 65

You can use " \\ " instead of " \ " as well as '@' sign in the beginning.

Upvotes: 1

Jawahar BABU

Reputation: 1075

It's Simple... Just put '@' symbol before your string, then it never care for your escape sequences...like this

string name=@"lndebi\n\nlndebi";

the output will be lndebi\n\nlndebi.

Upvotes: 3

dtb

Reputation: 217283

You can use Verbatim String Literals:

//Initialize with a regular string literal.
string oldPath = "c:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Visual Studio 8.0";

// Initialize with a verbatim string literal.
string newPath = @"c:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0";
                 ↑

Upvotes: 69