Get a list of all encodings. Python can code

Question

I am writing a script that will try to encode bytes into many different encodings in Python 2.6. Is there a way to get a list of available encodings that I can iterate over?

The reason I'm trying to do this is because the user has text that is not encoded correctly. There are funny characters. I know the unicode character that messed it up. I want to give them an answer, for example: "Your text editor interprets this line as an X encoding, not a Y encoding." I thought I would try to encode this character using one encoding, and then decode it again using another encoding and see if we get the same sequence of characters.

i.e. something like that:

for encoding1, encoding2 in itertools.permutation(encodinglist(), 2): try: unicode_string = my_unicode_character.encode(encoding1).decode(encoding2) except: pass 

Answer 1

Unfortunately encodings.aliases.aliases.keys() NOT a suitable answer.

aliases (as expected) contains several cases where different keys are mapped to the same value, for example. 1252 and windows_1252 displayed as cp1252 . You could save time if instead of aliases.keys() you use set(aliases.values()) .

BUT REQUIRED PROBLEM: aliases does not contain codecs that do not have aliases (for example, cp856, cp874, cp875, cp737 and koi8_u).

 >>> from encodings.aliases import aliases >>> def find(q): ... return [(k,v) for k, v in aliases.items() if q in k or q in v] ... >>> find('1252') # multiple aliases [('1252', 'cp1252'), ('windows_1252', 'cp1252')] >>> find('856') # no codepage 856 in aliases [] >>> find('koi8') # no koi8_u in aliases [('cskoi8r', 'koi8_r')] >>> 'x'.decode('cp856') # but cp856 is a valid codec u'x' >>> 'x'.decode('koi8_u') # but koi8_u is a valid codec u'x' >>> 

It is also worth noting that, however, you get a complete list of codecs, it might be a good idea to ignore codecs that are not encoding / decoding sets, but do some other conversion, for example. zlib , quopri and base64 .

This brings us to the question of why you want to "try to encode bytes into many different encodings." If we know this, we can manage you in the right direction.

To begin with, this is ambiguous. One DEcodes bytes in unicode and one ENCode unicode in bytes. What do you want to do?

What are you really trying to achieve: are you trying to determine which codec to use to decode some incoming bytes, and do you plan to try it with all possible codecs? [note: latin1 will decode something]. Are you trying to determine the language of some text in Unicode, trying to encode it with all possible codecs? [note: utf8 will encode anything].

Answer 2

The other answers here seem to indicate that building this list is programmatically complicated and fraught with traps. However, you probably do not need to do this, because the documentation contains a complete list of standard encodings supported by Python, and this has been done since Python 2.3.

You can find these lists (for each stable version of the released language) at:

• https://docs.python.org/2.3/lib/node130.html
• https://docs.python.org/2.4/lib/standard-encodings.html
• https://docs.python.org/2.5/lib/standard-encodings.html
• https://docs.python.org/2.6/library/codecs.html#standard-encodings
• https://docs.python.org/2.7/library/codecs.html#standard-encodings
• https://docs.python.org/3.0/library/codecs.html#standard-encodings
• https://docs.python.org/3.1/library/codecs.html#standard-encodings
• https://docs.python.org/3.2/library/codecs.html#standard-encodings
• https://docs.python.org/3.3/library/codecs.html#standard-encodings
• https://docs.python.org/3.4/library/codecs.html#standard-encodings
• https://docs.python.org/3.5/library/codecs.html#standard-encodings
• https://docs.python.org/3.6/library/codecs.html#standard-encodings
• https://docs.python.org/3.7/library/codecs.html#standard-encodings

Below are the lists for each documented version of Python. Note that if you need backward compatibility, and not just support for a specific version of Python, you can simply copy the list from the latest version of Python and check if every encoding exists in Python running your program before trying to use it.

Python 2.3 (59 encodings)

 ['ascii', 'cp037', 'cp424', 'cp437', 'cp500', 'cp737', 'cp775', 'cp850', 'cp852', 'cp855', 'cp856', 'cp857', 'cp860', 'cp861', 'cp862', 'cp863', 'cp864', 'cp865', 'cp869', 'cp874', 'cp875', 'cp1006', 'cp1026', 'cp1140', 'cp1250', 'cp1251', 'cp1252', 'cp1253', 'cp1254', 'cp1255', 'cp1256', 'cp1257', 'cp1258', 'latin_1', 'iso8859_2', 'iso8859_3', 'iso8859_4', 'iso8859_5', 'iso8859_6', 'iso8859_7', 'iso8859_8', 'iso8859_9', 'iso8859_10', 'iso8859_13', 'iso8859_14', 'iso8859_15', 'koi8_r', 'koi8_u', 'mac_cyrillic', 'mac_greek', 'mac_iceland', 'mac_latin2', 'mac_roman', 'mac_turkish', 'utf_16', 'utf_16_be', 'utf_16_le', 'utf_7', 'utf_8'] 

Python 2.4 (85 encodings)

 ['ascii', 'big5', 'big5hkscs', 'cp037', 'cp424', 'cp437', 'cp500', 'cp737', 'cp775', 'cp850', 'cp852', 'cp855', 'cp856', 'cp857', 'cp860', 'cp861', 'cp862', 'cp863', 'cp864', 'cp865', 'cp866', 'cp869', 'cp874', 'cp875', 'cp932', 'cp949', 'cp950', 'cp1006', 'cp1026', 'cp1140', 'cp1250', 'cp1251', 'cp1252', 'cp1253', 'cp1254', 'cp1255', 'cp1256', 'cp1257', 'cp1258', 'euc_jp', 'euc_jis_2004', 'euc_jisx0213', 'euc_kr', 'gb2312', 'gbk', 'gb18030', 'hz', 'iso2022_jp', 'iso2022_jp_1', 'iso2022_jp_2', 'iso2022_jp_2004', 'iso2022_jp_3', 'iso2022_jp_ext', 'iso2022_kr', 'latin_1', 'iso8859_2', 'iso8859_3', 'iso8859_4', 'iso8859_5', 'iso8859_6', 'iso8859_7', 'iso8859_8', 'iso8859_9', 'iso8859_10', 'iso8859_13', 'iso8859_14', 'iso8859_15', 'johab', 'koi8_r', 'koi8_u', 'mac_cyrillic', 'mac_greek', 'mac_iceland', 'mac_latin2', 'mac_roman', 'mac_turkish', 'ptcp154', 'shift_jis', 'shift_jis_2004', 'shift_jisx0213', 'utf_16', 'utf_16_be', 'utf_16_le', 'utf_7', 'utf_8'] 

Python 2.5 (86 encodings)

 ['ascii', 'big5', 'big5hkscs', 'cp037', 'cp424', 'cp437', 'cp500', 'cp737', 'cp775', 'cp850', 'cp852', 'cp855', 'cp856', 'cp857', 'cp860', 'cp861', 'cp862', 'cp863', 'cp864', 'cp865', 'cp866', 'cp869', 'cp874', 'cp875', 'cp932', 'cp949', 'cp950', 'cp1006', 'cp1026', 'cp1140', 'cp1250', 'cp1251', 'cp1252', 'cp1253', 'cp1254', 'cp1255', 'cp1256', 'cp1257', 'cp1258', 'euc_jp', 'euc_jis_2004', 'euc_jisx0213', 'euc_kr', 'gb2312', 'gbk', 'gb18030', 'hz', 'iso2022_jp', 'iso2022_jp_1', 'iso2022_jp_2', 'iso2022_jp_2004', 'iso2022_jp_3', 'iso2022_jp_ext', 'iso2022_kr', 'latin_1', 'iso8859_2', 'iso8859_3', 'iso8859_4', 'iso8859_5', 'iso8859_6', 'iso8859_7', 'iso8859_8', 'iso8859_9', 'iso8859_10', 'iso8859_13', 'iso8859_14', 'iso8859_15', 'johab', 'koi8_r', 'koi8_u', 'mac_cyrillic', 'mac_greek', 'mac_iceland', 'mac_latin2', 'mac_roman', 'mac_turkish', 'ptcp154', 'shift_jis', 'shift_jis_2004', 'shift_jisx0213', 'utf_16', 'utf_16_be', 'utf_16_le', 'utf_7', 'utf_8', 'utf_8_sig'] 

Python 2.6 (90 encodings)

 ['ascii', 'big5', 'big5hkscs', 'cp037', 'cp424', 'cp437', 'cp500', 'cp737', 'cp775', 'cp850', 'cp852', 'cp855', 'cp856', 'cp857', 'cp860', 'cp861', 'cp862', 'cp863', 'cp864', 'cp865', 'cp866', 'cp869', 'cp874', 'cp875', 'cp932', 'cp949', 'cp950', 'cp1006', 'cp1026', 'cp1140', 'cp1250', 'cp1251', 'cp1252', 'cp1253', 'cp1254', 'cp1255', 'cp1256', 'cp1257', 'cp1258', 'euc_jp', 'euc_jis_2004', 'euc_jisx0213', 'euc_kr', 'gb2312', 'gbk', 'gb18030', 'hz', 'iso2022_jp', 'iso2022_jp_1', 'iso2022_jp_2', 'iso2022_jp_2004', 'iso2022_jp_3', 'iso2022_jp_ext', 'iso2022_kr', 'latin_1', 'iso8859_2', 'iso8859_3', 'iso8859_4', 'iso8859_5', 'iso8859_6', 'iso8859_7', 'iso8859_8', 'iso8859_9', 'iso8859_10', 'iso8859_13', 'iso8859_14', 'iso8859_15', 'iso8859_16', 'johab', 'koi8_r', 'koi8_u', 'mac_cyrillic', 'mac_greek', 'mac_iceland', 'mac_latin2', 'mac_roman', 'mac_turkish', 'ptcp154', 'shift_jis', 'shift_jis_2004', 'shift_jisx0213', 'utf_32', 'utf_32_be', 'utf_32_le', 'utf_16', 'utf_16_be', 'utf_16_le', 'utf_7', 'utf_8', 'utf_8_sig'] 

Python 2.7 (93 encodings)

 ['ascii', 'big5', 'big5hkscs', 'cp037', 'cp424', 'cp437', 'cp500', 'cp720', 'cp737', 'cp775', 'cp850', 'cp852', 'cp855', 'cp856', 'cp857', 'cp858', 'cp860', 'cp861', 'cp862', 'cp863', 'cp864', 'cp865', 'cp866', 'cp869', 'cp874', 'cp875', 'cp932', 'cp949', 'cp950', 'cp1006', 'cp1026', 'cp1140', 'cp1250', 'cp1251', 'cp1252', 'cp1253', 'cp1254', 'cp1255', 'cp1256', 'cp1257', 'cp1258', 'euc_jp', 'euc_jis_2004', 'euc_jisx0213', 'euc_kr', 'gb2312', 'gbk', 'gb18030', 'hz', 'iso2022_jp', 'iso2022_jp_1', 'iso2022_jp_2', 'iso2022_jp_2004', 'iso2022_jp_3', 'iso2022_jp_ext', 'iso2022_kr', 'latin_1', 'iso8859_2', 'iso8859_3', 'iso8859_4', 'iso8859_5', 'iso8859_6', 'iso8859_7', 'iso8859_8', 'iso8859_9', 'iso8859_10', 'iso8859_11', 'iso8859_13', 'iso8859_14', 'iso8859_15', 'iso8859_16', 'johab', 'koi8_r', 'koi8_u', 'mac_cyrillic', 'mac_greek', 'mac_iceland', 'mac_latin2', 'mac_roman', 'mac_turkish', 'ptcp154', 'shift_jis', 'shift_jis_2004', 'shift_jisx0213', 'utf_32', 'utf_32_be', 'utf_32_le', 'utf_16', 'utf_16_be', 'utf_16_le', 'utf_7', 'utf_8', 'utf_8_sig'] 

Python 3.0 (89 encodings)

 ['ascii', 'big5', 'big5hkscs', 'cp037', 'cp424', 'cp437', 'cp500', 'cp737', 'cp775', 'cp850', 'cp852', 'cp855', 'cp856', 'cp857', 'cp860', 'cp861', 'cp862', 'cp863', 'cp864', 'cp865', 'cp866', 'cp869', 'cp874', 'cp875', 'cp932', 'cp949', 'cp950', 'cp1006', 'cp1026', 'cp1140', 'cp1250', 'cp1251', 'cp1252', 'cp1253', 'cp1254', 'cp1255', 'cp1256', 'cp1257', 'cp1258', 'euc_jp', 'euc_jis_2004', 'euc_jisx0213', 'euc_kr', 'gb2312', 'gbk', 'gb18030', 'hz', 'iso2022_jp', 'iso2022_jp_1', 'iso2022_jp_2', 'iso2022_jp_2004', 'iso2022_jp_3', 'iso2022_jp_ext', 'iso2022_kr', 'latin_1', 'iso8859_2', 'iso8859_3', 'iso8859_4', 'iso8859_5', 'iso8859_6', 'iso8859_7', 'iso8859_8', 'iso8859_9', 'iso8859_10', 'iso8859_13', 'iso8859_14', 'iso8859_15', 'johab', 'koi8_r', 'koi8_u', 'mac_cyrillic', 'mac_greek', 'mac_iceland', 'mac_latin2', 'mac_roman', 'mac_turkish', 'ptcp154', 'shift_jis', 'shift_jis_2004', 'shift_jisx0213', 'utf_32', 'utf_32_be', 'utf_32_le', 'utf_16', 'utf_16_be', 'utf_16_le', 'utf_7', 'utf_8', 'utf_8_sig'] 

Python 3.1 (90 encodings)

 ['ascii', 'big5', 'big5hkscs', 'cp037', 'cp424', 'cp437', 'cp500', 'cp737', 'cp775', 'cp850', 'cp852', 'cp855', 'cp856', 'cp857', 'cp860', 'cp861', 'cp862', 'cp863', 'cp864', 'cp865', 'cp866', 'cp869', 'cp874', 'cp875', 'cp932', 'cp949', 'cp950', 'cp1006', 'cp1026', 'cp1140', 'cp1250', 'cp1251', 'cp1252', 'cp1253', 'cp1254', 'cp1255', 'cp1256', 'cp1257', 'cp1258', 'euc_jp', 'euc_jis_2004', 'euc_jisx0213', 'euc_kr', 'gb2312', 'gbk', 'gb18030', 'hz', 'iso2022_jp', 'iso2022_jp_1', 'iso2022_jp_2', 'iso2022_jp_2004', 'iso2022_jp_3', 'iso2022_jp_ext', 'iso2022_kr', 'latin_1', 'iso8859_2', 'iso8859_3', 'iso8859_4', 'iso8859_5', 'iso8859_6', 'iso8859_7', 'iso8859_8', 'iso8859_9', 'iso8859_10', 'iso8859_13', 'iso8859_14', 'iso8859_15', 'iso8859_16', 'johab', 'koi8_r', 'koi8_u', 'mac_cyrillic', 'mac_greek', 'mac_iceland', 'mac_latin2', 'mac_roman', 'mac_turkish', 'ptcp154', 'shift_jis', 'shift_jis_2004', 'shift_jisx0213', 'utf_32', 'utf_32_be', 'utf_32_le', 'utf_16', 'utf_16_be', 'utf_16_le', 'utf_7', 'utf_8', 'utf_8_sig'] 

Python 3.2 (92 encodings)

 ['ascii', 'big5', 'big5hkscs', 'cp037', 'cp424', 'cp437', 'cp500', 'cp720', 'cp737', 'cp775', 'cp850', 'cp852', 'cp855', 'cp856', 'cp857', 'cp858', 'cp860', 'cp861', 'cp862', 'cp863', 'cp864', 'cp865', 'cp866', 'cp869', 'cp874', 'cp875', 'cp932', 'cp949', 'cp950', 'cp1006', 'cp1026', 'cp1140', 'cp1250', 'cp1251', 'cp1252', 'cp1253', 'cp1254', 'cp1255', 'cp1256', 'cp1257', 'cp1258', 'euc_jp', 'euc_jis_2004', 'euc_jisx0213', 'euc_kr', 'gb2312', 'gbk', 'gb18030', 'hz', 'iso2022_jp', 'iso2022_jp_1', 'iso2022_jp_2', 'iso2022_jp_2004', 'iso2022_jp_3', 'iso2022_jp_ext', 'iso2022_kr', 'latin_1', 'iso8859_2', 'iso8859_3', 'iso8859_4', 'iso8859_5', 'iso8859_6', 'iso8859_7', 'iso8859_8', 'iso8859_9', 'iso8859_10', 'iso8859_13', 'iso8859_14', 'iso8859_15', 'iso8859_16', 'johab', 'koi8_r', 'koi8_u', 'mac_cyrillic', 'mac_greek', 'mac_iceland', 'mac_latin2', 'mac_roman', 'mac_turkish', 'ptcp154', 'shift_jis', 'shift_jis_2004', 'shift_jisx0213', 'utf_32', 'utf_32_be', 'utf_32_le', 'utf_16', 'utf_16_be', 'utf_16_le', 'utf_7', 'utf_8', 'utf_8_sig'] 

Python 3.3 (93 encodings)

 ['ascii', 'big5', 'big5hkscs', 'cp037', 'cp424', 'cp437', 'cp500', 'cp720', 'cp737', 'cp775', 'cp850', 'cp852', 'cp855', 'cp856', 'cp857', 'cp858', 'cp860', 'cp861', 'cp862', 'cp863', 'cp864', 'cp865', 'cp866', 'cp869', 'cp874', 'cp875', 'cp932', 'cp949', 'cp950', 'cp1006', 'cp1026', 'cp1140', 'cp1250', 'cp1251', 'cp1252', 'cp1253', 'cp1254', 'cp1255', 'cp1256', 'cp1257', 'cp1258', 'cp65001', 'euc_jp', 'euc_jis_2004', 'euc_jisx0213', 'euc_kr', 'gb2312', 'gbk', 'gb18030', 'hz', 'iso2022_jp', 'iso2022_jp_1', 'iso2022_jp_2', 'iso2022_jp_2004', 'iso2022_jp_3', 'iso2022_jp_ext', 'iso2022_kr', 'latin_1', 'iso8859_2', 'iso8859_3', 'iso8859_4', 'iso8859_5', 'iso8859_6', 'iso8859_7', 'iso8859_8', 'iso8859_9', 'iso8859_10', 'iso8859_13', 'iso8859_14', 'iso8859_15', 'iso8859_16', 'johab', 'koi8_r', 'koi8_u', 'mac_cyrillic', 'mac_greek', 'mac_iceland', 'mac_latin2', 'mac_roman', 'mac_turkish', 'ptcp154', 'shift_jis', 'shift_jis_2004', 'shift_jisx0213', 'utf_32', 'utf_32_be', 'utf_32_le', 'utf_16', 'utf_16_be', 'utf_16_le', 'utf_7', 'utf_8', 'utf_8_sig'] 

Python 3.4 (96 encodings)

 ['ascii', 'big5', 'big5hkscs', 'cp037', 'cp273', 'cp424', 'cp437', 'cp500', 'cp720', 'cp737', 'cp775', 'cp850', 'cp852', 'cp855', 'cp856', 'cp857', 'cp858', 'cp860', 'cp861', 'cp862', 'cp863', 'cp864', 'cp865', 'cp866', 'cp869', 'cp874', 'cp875', 'cp932', 'cp949', 'cp950', 'cp1006', 'cp1026', 'cp1125', 'cp1140', 'cp1250', 'cp1251', 'cp1252', 'cp1253', 'cp1254', 'cp1255', 'cp1256', 'cp1257', 'cp1258', 'cp65001', 'euc_jp', 'euc_jis_2004', 'euc_jisx0213', 'euc_kr', 'gb2312', 'gbk', 'gb18030', 'hz', 'iso2022_jp', 'iso2022_jp_1', 'iso2022_jp_2', 'iso2022_jp_2004', 'iso2022_jp_3', 'iso2022_jp_ext', 'iso2022_kr', 'latin_1', 'iso8859_2', 'iso8859_3', 'iso8859_4', 'iso8859_5', 'iso8859_6', 'iso8859_7', 'iso8859_8', 'iso8859_9', 'iso8859_10', 'iso8859_11', 'iso8859_13', 'iso8859_14', 'iso8859_15', 'iso8859_16', 'johab', 'koi8_r', 'koi8_u', 'mac_cyrillic', 'mac_greek', 'mac_iceland', 'mac_latin2', 'mac_roman', 'mac_turkish', 'ptcp154', 'shift_jis', 'shift_jis_2004', 'shift_jisx0213', 'utf_32', 'utf_32_be', 'utf_32_le', 'utf_16', 'utf_16_be', 'utf_16_le', 'utf_7', 'utf_8', 'utf_8_sig'] 

Python 3.5 (98 encodings)

 ['ascii', 'big5', 'big5hkscs', 'cp037', 'cp273', 'cp424', 'cp437', 'cp500', 'cp720', 'cp737', 'cp775', 'cp850', 'cp852', 'cp855', 'cp856', 'cp857', 'cp858', 'cp860', 'cp861', 'cp862', 'cp863', 'cp864', 'cp865', 'cp866', 'cp869', 'cp874', 'cp875', 'cp932', 'cp949', 'cp950', 'cp1006', 'cp1026', 'cp1125', 'cp1140', 'cp1250', 'cp1251', 'cp1252', 'cp1253', 'cp1254', 'cp1255', 'cp1256', 'cp1257', 'cp1258', 'cp65001', 'euc_jp', 'euc_jis_2004', 'euc_jisx0213', 'euc_kr', 'gb2312', 'gbk', 'gb18030', 'hz', 'iso2022_jp', 'iso2022_jp_1', 'iso2022_jp_2', 'iso2022_jp_2004', 'iso2022_jp_3', 'iso2022_jp_ext', 'iso2022_kr', 'latin_1', 'iso8859_2', 'iso8859_3', 'iso8859_4', 'iso8859_5', 'iso8859_6', 'iso8859_7', 'iso8859_8', 'iso8859_9', 'iso8859_10', 'iso8859_11', 'iso8859_13', 'iso8859_14', 'iso8859_15', 'iso8859_16', 'johab', 'koi8_r', 'koi8_t', 'koi8_u', 'kz1048', 'mac_cyrillic', 'mac_greek', 'mac_iceland', 'mac_latin2', 'mac_roman', 'mac_turkish', 'ptcp154', 'shift_jis', 'shift_jis_2004', 'shift_jisx0213', 'utf_32', 'utf_32_be', 'utf_32_le', 'utf_16', 'utf_16_be', 'utf_16_le', 'utf_7', 'utf_8', 'utf_8_sig'] 

Python 3.6 (98 encodings)

 ['ascii', 'big5', 'big5hkscs', 'cp037', 'cp273', 'cp424', 'cp437', 'cp500', 'cp720', 'cp737', 'cp775', 'cp850', 'cp852', 'cp855', 'cp856', 'cp857', 'cp858', 'cp860', 'cp861', 'cp862', 'cp863', 'cp864', 'cp865', 'cp866', 'cp869', 'cp874', 'cp875', 'cp932', 'cp949', 'cp950', 'cp1006', 'cp1026', 'cp1125', 'cp1140', 'cp1250', 'cp1251', 'cp1252', 'cp1253', 'cp1254', 'cp1255', 'cp1256', 'cp1257', 'cp1258', 'cp65001', 'euc_jp', 'euc_jis_2004', 'euc_jisx0213', 'euc_kr', 'gb2312', 'gbk', 'gb18030', 'hz', 'iso2022_jp', 'iso2022_jp_1', 'iso2022_jp_2', 'iso2022_jp_2004', 'iso2022_jp_3', 'iso2022_jp_ext', 'iso2022_kr', 'latin_1', 'iso8859_2', 'iso8859_3', 'iso8859_4', 'iso8859_5', 'iso8859_6', 'iso8859_7', 'iso8859_8', 'iso8859_9', 'iso8859_10', 'iso8859_11', 'iso8859_13', 'iso8859_14', 'iso8859_15', 'iso8859_16', 'johab', 'koi8_r', 'koi8_t', 'koi8_u', 'kz1048', 'mac_cyrillic', 'mac_greek', 'mac_iceland', 'mac_latin2', 'mac_roman', 'mac_turkish', 'ptcp154', 'shift_jis', 'shift_jis_2004', 'shift_jisx0213', 'utf_32', 'utf_32_be', 'utf_32_le', 'utf_16', 'utf_16_be', 'utf_16_le', 'utf_7', 'utf_8', 'utf_8_sig'] 

Python 3.7 (98 encodings)

 ['ascii', 'big5', 'big5hkscs', 'cp037', 'cp273', 'cp424', 'cp437', 'cp500', 'cp720', 'cp737', 'cp775', 'cp850', 'cp852', 'cp855', 'cp856', 'cp857', 'cp858', 'cp860', 'cp861', 'cp862', 'cp863', 'cp864', 'cp865', 'cp866', 'cp869', 'cp874', 'cp875', 'cp932', 'cp949', 'cp950', 'cp1006', 'cp1026', 'cp1125', 'cp1140', 'cp1250', 'cp1251', 'cp1252', 'cp1253', 'cp1254', 'cp1255', 'cp1256', 'cp1257', 'cp1258', 'cp65001', 'euc_jp', 'euc_jis_2004', 'euc_jisx0213', 'euc_kr', 'gb2312', 'gbk', 'gb18030', 'hz', 'iso2022_jp', 'iso2022_jp_1', 'iso2022_jp_2', 'iso2022_jp_2004', 'iso2022_jp_3', 'iso2022_jp_ext', 'iso2022_kr', 'latin_1', 'iso8859_2', 'iso8859_3', 'iso8859_4', 'iso8859_5', 'iso8859_6', 'iso8859_7', 'iso8859_8', 'iso8859_9', 'iso8859_10', 'iso8859_11', 'iso8859_13', 'iso8859_14', 'iso8859_15', 'iso8859_16', 'johab', 'koi8_r', 'koi8_t', 'koi8_u', 'kz1048', 'mac_cyrillic', 'mac_greek', 'mac_iceland', 'mac_latin2', 'mac_roman', 'mac_turkish', 'ptcp154', 'shift_jis', 'shift_jis_2004', 'shift_jisx0213', 'utf_32', 'utf_32_be', 'utf_32_le', 'utf_16', 'utf_16_be', 'utf_16_le', 'utf_7', 'utf_8', 'utf_8_sig'] 

In case they are relevant to any use case, note that the docs also list some Python-specific encodings , many of which seem to be primarily intended for use by Python internal components or are somewhat strange. for example, like an 'undefined' encoding that always throws an exception if you try to use it. You probably want to completely ignore them if, like asking the question here, you are trying to figure out what encoding you used for the text you came across in the real world. Starting with Python 3.7, the list is as follows:

 ["idna", "mbcs", "oem", "palmos", "punycode", "raw_unicode_escape", "rot_13", "undefined", "unicode_escape", "unicode_internal", "base64_codec", "bz2_codec", "hex_codec", "quopri_codec", "uu_codec", "zlib_codec"] 

In some older versions of Python, there was a special encoding string_escape which I did not include in the above list, since it was removed from the language.

Finally, in case you want to update my tables above for a newer version of Python, here is the (rough, not very reliable) script I used to generate them:

 import requests import lxml.html import pprint for version, url in [ ('2.3', 'https://docs.python.org/2.3/lib/node130.html'), ('2.4', 'https://docs.python.org/2.4/lib/standard-encodings.html'), ('2.5', 'https://docs.python.org/2.5/lib/standard-encodings.html'), ('2.6', 'https://docs.python.org/2.6/library/codecs.html#standard-encodings'), ('2.7', 'https://docs.python.org/2.7/library/codecs.html#standard-encodings'), ('3.0', 'https://docs.python.org/3.0/library/codecs.html#standard-encodings'), ('3.1', 'https://docs.python.org/3.1/library/codecs.html#standard-encodings'), ('3.2', 'https://docs.python.org/3.2/library/codecs.html#standard-encodings'), ('3.3', 'https://docs.python.org/3.3/library/codecs.html#standard-encodings'), ('3.4', 'https://docs.python.org/3.4/library/codecs.html#standard-encodings'), ('3.5', 'https://docs.python.org/3.5/library/codecs.html#standard-encodings'), ('3.6', 'https://docs.python.org/3.6/library/codecs.html#standard-encodings'), ('3.7', 'https://docs.python.org/3.7/library/codecs.html#standard-encodings'), ]: html = requests.get(url).text doc = lxml.html.fromstring(html) standard_encodings_table = doc.xpath( '//table[preceding::h2[.//text()[contains(., "Standard Encodings")]]][//th/text()="Codec"]' )[0] codecs = standard_encodings_table.xpath('.//td[1]/text()') print("## Python %s (%i encodings)" % (version, len(codecs))) print('<pre><code>' + pprint.pformat(codecs) + '</code></pre>') 

Answer 3

Maybe you should try using the universal encoder library (chardet) instead of implementing it yourself.

 >>> import chardet >>> s = '\xe2\x98\x83' # ☃ >>> chardet.detect(s) {'confidence': 0.505, 'encoding': 'utf-8'} 

Answer 4

You can use the technique to display all the modules in the encodings package.

 import pkgutil import encodings false_positives = set(["aliases"]) found = set(name for imp, name, ispkg in pkgutil.iter_modules(encodings.__path__) if not ispkg) found.difference_update(false_positives) print found 

Answer 5

I doubt that there is such a method / functionality in the codec, but if you see encoding/__init__.py , the search function searches the folders of encoding modules, so you can do the same, for example.

 >>> os.listdir(os.path.dirname(encodings.__file__)) ['cp500.pyc', 'utf_16_le.py', 'gb18030.py', 'mbcs.pyc', 'undefined.pyc', 'idna.pyc', 'punycode.pyc', 'cp850.py', 'big5hkscs.pyc', 'mac_arabic.py', '__init__.pyc', 'string_escape.py', 'hz.py', 'cp037.py', 'cp737.py', 'iso8859_5.pyc', 'iso8859_13.pyc', 'cp861.pyc', 'cp862.py', 'iso8859_9.pyc', 'cp949.py', 'base64_codec.pyc', 'koi8_r.py', 'iso8859_2.py', 'ptcp154.pyc', 'uu_codec.pyc', 'mac_croatian.pyc', 'charmap.pyc', 'iso8859_15.pyc', 'euc_jp.py', 'cp1250.py', 'iso8859_10.pyc', 'koi8_r.pyc', 'unicode_escape.pyc', 'cp863.pyc', 'iso8859_4.pyc', 'cp852.py', 'unicode_internal.py', 'big5hkscs.py', 'cp1257.pyc', 'cp1254.py', 'shift_jisx0213.py', 'shift_jis.pyc', 'cp869.pyc', 'hp_roman8.py', 'iso8859_4.py', 'cp775.py', 'cp1251.py', 'mac_cyrillic.pyc', 'mac_greek.pyc', 'mac_roman.pyc', 'iso8859_11.pyc', 'iso8859_6.py', 'utf_8_sig.py', 'iso8859_3.py', 'iso2022_jp_1.py', 'ascii.py', 'cp1026.pyc', 'cp1250.pyc', 'cp950.py', 'raw_unicode_escape.py', 'euc_jis_2004.pyc', 'cp775.pyc', 'euc_kr.py', 'mac _greek.py', 'big5.pyc', 'shift_jis_2004.pyc', 'gbk.pyc', 'cp1254.pyc', 'cp1255.pyc', 'cp855.pyc', 'string_escape.pyc', 'cp949.pyc', 'cp1258.pyc', 'iso8859_3.pyc', 'mac_iceland.pyc', 'cp1251.pyc', 'cp860.py', 'cp856.py', 'cp874.py', 'iso2022_kr.py', 'cp856.pyc', 'rot_13.py', 'palmos.py', 'iso2022_jp_2.pyc', 'mac_farsi.py', 'koi8_u.pyc', 'cp1256.py', 'iso8859_10.py', 'tis_620.py', 'iso8859_14.pyc', 'cp1253.py', 'cp1258.py', 'cp437.py', 'cp862.pyc', 'mac_turkish.py', 'undefined.py', 'euc_kr.pyc', 'gb18030.pyc', 'aliases.pyc', 'iso8859_9.py', 'uu_codec.py', 'gbk.py', 'quopri_codec.pyc', 'iso8859_7.py', 'mac_iceland.py', 'iso8859_2.pyc', 'euc_jis_2004.py', 'iso2022_jp_3.pyc', 'cp874.pyc', '__init__.py', 'mac_roman.py', 'iso8859_16.py', 'cp866.py', 'unicode_internal.pyc', 'mac_turkish.pyc', 'johab.pyc', 'cp037.pyc', 'punycode.py', 'cp1253.pyc', 'euc_jisx0213.pyc', 'iso2022_jp_2004.pyc', 'iso2022_kr.pyc', 'zlib_codec.pyc', 'cp932.py', 'cp1255.py', 'iso2022_jp_1.pyc', 'cp857.pyc', 'cp424.pyc', 'iso2022_jp_2.py', 'iso2022_jp.pyc', 'mbcs.py', 'utf_8.py', 'palmos.pyc', 'cp1252.pyc', 'aliases.py', 'quopri_codec.py', 'latin_1.pyc', 'iso2022_jp.py', 'zlib_codec.py', 'cp1026.py', 'cp860.pyc', 'cp1252.py', 'hex_codec.pyc', 'iso8859_1.pyc', 'cp850.pyc', 'cp861.py', 'iso8859_15.py', 'cp865.pyc', 'hp_roman8.pyc', 'iso8859_7.pyc', 'mac_latin2.py', 'iso8859_11.py', 'mac_centeuro.pyc', 'iso8859_6.pyc', 'ascii.pyc', 'mac_centeuro.py', 'iso2022_jp_3.py', 'bz2_codec.py', 'mac_arabic.pyc', 'euc_jisx0213.py', 'tis_620.pyc', 'shift_jis_2004.py', 'utf_8.pyc', 'cp855.py', 'mac_romanian.pyc', 'iso8859_8.py', 'cp869.py', 'ptcp154.py', 'utf_16_be.py', 'iso2022_jp_ext.pyc', 'bz2_codec.pyc', 'base64_codec.py', 'latin_1.py', 'charmap.py', 'hz.pyc', 'cp950.pyc', 'cp875.pyc', 'cp1006.pyc', 'utf_16.py', 'shift_jisx0213.pyc', 'cp424.py', 'cp932.pyc', 'iso8859_5.py', 'mac_romanian.py', 'utf_8_sig.pyc', 'iso8859_1.py', 'cp875.py', 'cp437.pyc', 'cp865.py', 'utf_7.py', 'utf_16_be.pyc', 'rot_13.pyc', 'euc_jp.p yc', 'raw_unicode_escape.pyc', 'iso8859_8.pyc', 'utf_16.pyc', 'iso8859_14.py', 'iso8859_16.pyc', 'cp852.pyc', 'cp737.pyc', 'mac_croatian.py', 'mac_latin2.pyc', 'iso2022_jp_ext.py', 'cp1140.py', 'mac_cyrillic.py', 'cp1257.py', 'cp500.py', 'cp1140.pyc', 'shift_jis.py', 'unicode_escape.py', 'cp864.py', 'cp864.pyc', 'cp857.py', 'hex_codec.py', 'mac_farsi.pyc', 'idna.py', 'johab.py', 'utf_7.pyc', 'cp863.py', 'iso8859_13.py', 'koi8_u.py', 'gb2312.pyc', 'cp1256.pyc', 'cp866.pyc', 'iso2022_jp_2004.py', 'utf_16_le.pyc', 'gb2312.py', 'cp1006.py', 'big5.py'] 

but since anyone can register a codec, so this will not be an exhaustive list.

Answer 6

The Python source code has a script at Tools/unicode/listcodecs.py , which lists all the codecs.

However, among the listed codecs there are some that are not Unicode-to-byte converters such as base64_codec , quopri_codec and bz2_codec , as @John Machin noted.

Answer 7

You can probably do this:

 from encodings.aliases import aliases print aliases.keys() 

Answer 8

Here's a programmatic way to list all encodings defined in the stdlib encoding package; note that this will not list user-encoded encodings. This combines some of the tricks in the other answers, but actually creates a worklist using the canonical codec name.

 import encodings import pkgutil import pprint all_encodings = set() for _, modname, _ in pkgutil.iter_modules( encodings.__path__, encodings.__name__ + '.', ): try: mod = __import__(modname, fromlist=[str('__trash')]) except (ImportError, LookupError): # A few encodings are platform specific: mcbs, cp65001 # print('skip {}'.format(modname)) pass try: all_encodings.add(mod.getregentry().name) except AttributeError as e: # the `aliases` module doensn't actually provide a codec # print('skip {}'.format(modname)) if 'regentry' not in str(e): raise pprint.pprint(sorted(all_encodings))