'ascii' codec can't encode character u'\u2019' in position 5: ordinal not in range(128) error

Question

I am using feed parser to create objects for a django model.

In my models.py, I have the following model:

class Content(models.Model):
    title = models.CharField(max_length=500)
    link = models.URLField()
    description = models.TextField()
    category = models.CharField(max_length=500, blank=True)

And I wrote a function to actually create the objects for this model:

def generate_content_from_feed(rss_url):
    parsed_feed = feedparser.parse(rss_url)

    for item in parsed_feed['items']:
        if not Content.objects.filter(link=item['link']).exists():
            content = Content.objects.create(
                title=item['title'].encode('utf-8'),
                link=item['link'],
                description=item['description'].encode('utf-8'),
            )
            if item['category']:
                content.category = item['category']
            content.save()

The objects get created nicely, however, in my admin panel, some objects cannot be opened. Others open just fine, but for some, I get this error:

'ascii' codec can't encode character u'\u2019' in position 5: ordinal not in range(128)

I thought it had something to do with the title or description, which is why I added encode('utf-8'), but even then the problem persists. How do I solve this? And what exactly is the problem here?

This is my full traceback:

Environment:


Request Method: GET
Request URL: http://127.0.0.1:8000/admin/myapp/content/40/change/

Django Version: 1.9.5
Python Version: 2.7.10
Installed Applications:
['django.contrib.admin',
 'django.contrib.auth',
 'django.contrib.contenttypes',
 'django.contrib.sessions',
 'django.contrib.messages',
 'django.contrib.staticfiles',
 'rest_framework',
 'myapp']
Installed Middleware:
['django.middleware.security.SecurityMiddleware',
 'django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware',
 'django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware',
 'django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware',
 'django.contrib.auth.middleware.AuthenticationMiddleware',
 'django.contrib.auth.middleware.SessionAuthenticationMiddleware',
 'django.contrib.messages.middleware.MessageMiddleware',
 'django.middleware.clickjacking.XFrameOptionsMiddleware']


Template error:
In template /Users/user/my_django_project/myvenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/contrib/admin/templates/admin/change_form.html, error at line 21
   ascii   11 : {% block coltype %}colM{% endblock %}
   12 :
   13 : {% block bodyclass %}{{ block.super }} app-{{ opts.app_label }} model-{{ opts.model_name }} change-form{% endblock %}
   14 :
   15 : {% if not is_popup %}
   16 : {% block breadcrumbs %}
   17 : <div class="breadcrumbs">
   18 : <a href="{% url 'admin:index' %}">{% trans 'Home' %}</a>
   19 : &rsaquo; <a href="{% url 'admin:app_list' app_label=opts.app_label %}">{{ opts.app_config.verbose_name }}</a>
   20 : &rsaquo; {% if has_change_permission %}<a href="{% url opts|admin_urlname:'changelist' %}">{{ opts.verbose_name_plural|capfirst }}</a>{% else %}{{ opts.verbose_name_plural|capfirst }}{% endif %}
   21 : &rsaquo; {% if add %}{% trans 'Add' %} {{ opts.verbose_name }}{% else %} {{ original|truncatewords:"18" }} {% endif %}
   22 : </div>
   23 : {% endblock %}
   24 : {% endif %}
   25 :
   26 : {% block content %}<div id="content-main">
   27 : {% block object-tools %}
   28 : {% if change %}{% if not is_popup %}
   29 :   <ul class="object-tools">
   30 :     {% block object-tools-items %}
   31 :     <li>


Traceback:

File "/Users/user/my_django_project/myvenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/handlers/base.py" in get_response
  174.                     response = self.process_exception_by_middleware(e, request)

File "/Users/user/my_django_project/myvenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/core/handlers/base.py" in get_response
  172.                     response = response.render()

File "/Users/user/my_django_project/myvenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/template/response.py" in render
  160.             self.content = self.rendered_content

File "/Users/user/my_django_project/myvenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/template/response.py" in rendered_content
  137.         content = template.render(context, self._request)

File "/Users/user/my_django_project/myvenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/template/backends/django.py" in render
  95.             return self.template.render(context)

File "/Users/user/my_django_project/myvenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/template/base.py" in render
  206.                     return self._render(context)

File "/Users/user/my_django_project/myvenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/template/base.py" in _render
  197.         return self.nodelist.render(context)

File "/Users/user/my_django_project/myvenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/template/base.py" in render
  992.                 bit = node.render_annotated(context)

File "/Users/user/my_django_project/myvenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/template/base.py" in render_annotated
  959.             return self.render(context)

File "/Users/user/my_django_project/myvenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/template/loader_tags.py" in render
  173.         return compiled_parent._render(context)

File "/Users/user/my_django_project/myvenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/template/base.py" in _render
  197.         return self.nodelist.render(context)

File "/Users/user/my_django_project/myvenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/template/base.py" in render
  992.                 bit = node.render_annotated(context)

File "/Users/user/my_django_project/myvenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/template/base.py" in render_annotated
  959.             return self.render(context)

File "/Users/user/my_django_project/myvenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/template/loader_tags.py" in render
  173.         return compiled_parent._render(context)

File "/Users/user/my_django_project/myvenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/template/base.py" in _render
  197.         return self.nodelist.render(context)

File "/Users/user/my_django_project/myvenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/template/base.py" in render
  992.                 bit = node.render_annotated(context)

File "/Users/user/my_django_project/myvenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/template/base.py" in render_annotated
  959.             return self.render(context)

File "/Users/user/my_django_project/myvenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/template/defaulttags.py" in render
  326.                 return nodelist.render(context)

File "/Users/user/my_django_project/myvenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/template/base.py" in render
  992.                 bit = node.render_annotated(context)

File "/Users/user/my_django_project/myvenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/template/base.py" in render_annotated
  959.             return self.render(context)

File "/Users/user/my_django_project/myvenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/template/loader_tags.py" in render
  69.                 result = block.nodelist.render(context)

File "/Users/user/my_django_project/myvenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/template/base.py" in render
  992.                 bit = node.render_annotated(context)

File "/Users/user/my_django_project/myvenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/template/base.py" in render_annotated
  959.             return self.render(context)

File "/Users/user/my_django_project/myvenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/template/defaulttags.py" in render
  326.                 return nodelist.render(context)

File "/Users/user/my_django_project/myvenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/template/base.py" in render
  992.                 bit = node.render_annotated(context)

File "/Users/user/my_django_project/myvenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/template/base.py" in render_annotated
  959.             return self.render(context)

File "/Users/user/my_django_project/myvenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/template/base.py" in render
  1043.             output = self.filter_expression.resolve(context)

File "/Users/user/my_django_project/myvenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/template/base.py" in resolve
  736.                 new_obj = func(obj, *arg_vals)

File "/Users/user/my_django_project/myvenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/template/defaultfilters.py" in _dec
  47.             args[0] = force_text(args[0])

File "/Users/user/my_django_project/myvenv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/django/utils/encoding.py" in force_text
  80.                 s = six.text_type(bytes(s), encoding, errors)

Exception Type: UnicodeEncodeError at /admin/myapp/content/40/change/
Exception Value: 'ascii' codec can't encode character u'\u2019' in position 5: ordinal not in range(128)

Answer 1

The exception shows that the error is thrown by the admin template trying to convert your object to a string:

{{ original|truncatewords:"18" }}

(from line 21 of the admin template). original is the object being edited.

You are using Python 2, so make sure your model implements a proper __unicode__ method returning a unicode object (so not encoded). If you have a __str__ method instead, that still returns unicode, you'll certainly run into the above exception; __str__ should only be used in Python 3 code. Alternatively, add the python_2_unicode_compatible() decorator and use __str__, see the __str__ method documentation.