Unicode Python Windows Console

Question

I have a program for a Blackjack game. It is not completed but I am having an issue with Unicode. When it prints a string it is not in the correct format (Look Below). It is Python 3.

from unicurses import *
import sys
import time
from random import choice as rc
import random

def total(hand): #total
    aces = hand.count(11)
    t = sum(hand)
    if t > 21 and aces > 0:
        while aces > 0 and t > 21:
            t -= 10
            aces -= 1
    return t

def random(one,two):
    import random
    number = random.randint(one,two)
    return number

def number():
    number = random(1,13)
    if number == 13:
        value = '0'
    elif number == 12:
        value = '0'
    elif number == 11:
        value = '0'
    elif number == 10:
        value = '0'
    elif number < 10:
        value = number
    return value

def card():
    cardnumber = number()
    card = cardnumber
    return card

def store10Cards():
    tenCards = [card(),
               card(),
               card(),
               card(),
               card(),
               card(),
               card(),
               card(),
               card(),
               card()]
    return tenCards

stdscr = initscr()
cards = store10Cards()

mvaddstr(10, 10, '┌──────────┐\n│{}         │\n│           │\n│            │\n│            │\n│            │\n│            │\n│            │\n│            │\n│         {}│\n└──────────┘'.format(cards[0], cards[0]).encode('utf-8'))


#deck = [] #deck of cards

#cwin = 0 #computer wins
#pwin = 0 #player wins

#for i in range (2, 11):
   # for j in range ([24, 72][i == 10]):
       # deck.append(i)

#stdscr = initscr() #Start the standard screen 

start_color() #Start the color service

init_pair(1, COLOR_RED, 0) #color pair 1 is red text and no highlighting
init_pair(2, COLOR_WHITE, 0) #color pair 2 is white text and no highlighting

addstr('\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------', color_pair(1) | A_BOLD)
addstr('\n\n\nAre You Ready To Try And Defeat The Undefeated Blackjack Master?\n\n\nThe First One To Win 10 Hands Wins!!!\n\n\nAces Are Counted As 11s And Automaticlly Change To 1 If You Go Over 21. \n\n\nWinning 1 Hand Does Not Mean You Win The Game\n\n\nIt Is Possible To Win But Very Hard!!!                  Good Luck!!!\n\n\n', color_pair(2))
addstr('------------------------------------------------------------------------', color_pair(1) | A_BOLD)
addstr('\n\nDo You Know The Rules Of Blackjack? (Y or N)\n\n', color_pair(2))
addstr('------------------------------------------------------------------------', color_pair(1) | A_BOLD)

refresh() #refreshes

cbreak() #lets user do Ctrl + C

noecho() #Stops inputs from being shown

a = getch() #Gets input

while a == ord('q'): #Checks if input is q
    clear() #clears before exit
    exit() #quits

while a == ord('n'): #Checks if input is n

    clear() #clears before displaying the next text

    addstr('\n\n\n----------------------------------------------------------------------------------', color_pair(1) | A_BOLD)
    addstr('\n\nOk. That Is Ok. The Rules Are As Follows: \n\nThe Goal Is To Get To 21.\n\nYou Can Hit A Card (Receive Another) Or Stand And See What The Dealer Has And Does.\n\nThe Person With The Higest Value 21 Or Below Wins That Hand.\n\nAces Start As 11s But Change Automatticly To 1s If You Go Over 21 To Save You.\n\nIf You Get 21 Exactly You Get A Blackjack.\n\nA Blackjack Means You Automaticly Win Unless The Computer Gets A 21 And Ties You.\n\nBe Careful Not To Hit Too Many Times Because If You Go Over 21 You Lose That Hand.\n\nAny Face Card Is Automaticly A 10 At All Times.\n', color_pair(2))
    addstr('\n----------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n', color_pair(1) | A_BOLD)

    sleep(15)

    a = getch() #resets input variable

    while a == ord('q'): #Checks if input is q
        clear() #Clears before exit
        exit() #quits

while a == ord('y'): #Checks if input is y

    clear() #clears before displaying the next text

    addstr('\n\n\n\n\n----------------------------------------------------------------------------------', color_pair(1) | A_BOLD)
    addstr('\n\n\n\nGreat!\n\n\n\nHave Fun!\n\n\n\nGood Luck!\n\n\n', color_pair(2))
    addstr('----------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n', color_pair(1) | A_BOLD)

    refresh()

    time.sleep(1)

    b = '1'

    a = '' #resets input variable

Here is the line I am having issues with:

mvaddstr(10, 10, '┌──────────┐\n│{}         │\n│           │\n│            │\n│            │\n│            │\n│            │\n│            │\n│            │\n│         {}│\n└──────────┘'.format(cards[0], cards[0]).encode('utf-8'))

I tried to encode it with UTF-8 and set Command Prompt to UTF-8 by doing chcp then when I run that program that string prints:

b'\xe2\x94\x8c\xe2\x94\x80\xe2\x94\x80\xe2\x94\x80\xe2\x94\x80\xe2\x94\x80\x e2\x94\x80\xe2\x94\x80\xe2\x94\x80\xe2\x94\x80\xe2\x94\x80\xe2\x94\x90\n\xe2\x94\x823 \xe2\x94\x82\n\xe2\x94\x82 \t \xe2\x94\x82\n\xe2\x94\x82 \t \xe2 \x94\x82\n\xe2\x94\x82 \t \xe2\x94\x82\n\xe2\x94\x82 \t \xe2\x94\x82\n\x e2\x94\x82 \t \xe2\x94\x82\n\xe2\x94\x82 \t \xe2\x94\x82\n\xe2\x94\x82 \t \xe2\x94\x82\n\xe2\x94\x82 3\xe2\x94\x82\n\xe2\x94\x94\xe2\x94\x80\xe 2\x94\x80\xe2\x94\x80\xe2\x94\x80\xe2\x94\x80\xe2\x94\x80\xe2\x94\x80\xe2\x94\x80\xe2\ x94\x80\xe2\x94\x80\xe2\x94\x98'

Please help me print the string like it should be and not be in unicode.

If you have any other suggestions on my code let me know.

Answer 1

On Windows, unicurses uses ctypes to wrap PDCurses. This library is optionally built with Unicode support in the 32-bit DLLs that are distributed on the project site. FYI, the Unicode versions call console wide-character APIs such as WriteConsoleOutputW, so don't worry about the legacy console codepage. You need the "pdc34dllu.zip" build, which takes UTF-8 encoded parameters. Because the pre-built DLLs are only 32-bit, you'll have to use 32-bit Python, unless you have Visual Studio 2015 installed to build a 64-bit DLL.

You'll also have to make a couple of changes to unicurses to make this work. Here are the steps I followed to get this working for 32-bit Python 3.5:

1. Download pdc34dllu.zip. Extract "pdcurses.dll" to either Python's installation directory, i.e. where python.exe is located, or to a directory that's in the PATH environment variable.
2. Download and extract UniCurses-1.2.zip.
3. Before installing, make the following changes to unicurses.py. On line 34 change code = locale.getpreferredencoding() to code = 'utf-8'. Next, comment out lines 52-54, which start with if not os.access("pdcurses.dll",os.F_OK) because this check will always fail if "pdcurses.dll" isn't in the working directory.
4. Install the package by running python setup.py install.

example: printing a card

import unicurses

card_template = '\n'.join([
    '┌────────────┐',
    '│{card}           │',
    '│            │',
    '│            │',
    '│            │',
    '│            │',
    '│            │',
    '│            │',
    '│            │',
    '│           {card}│',
    '└────────────┘'])

def main():
    stdscr = unicurses.initscr()
    unicurses.clear()
    card_string = card_template.format(card=5)
    for i, line in enumerate(card_string.splitlines()):
        unicurses.mvaddstr(5 + i, 5, line)
    unicurses.refresh()
    unicurses.endwin()

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

output

     ┌────────────┐
     │5           │
     │            │
     │            │
     │            │
     │            │
     │            │
     │            │
     │            │
     │           5│
     └────────────┘