Can I convert a C# string value to an escaped string literal

Question

In C#, can I convert a string value to a string literal, the way I would see it in code? I would like to replace tabs, newlines, etc. with their escape sequences.

If

Answer 1

If JSON conventions are enough for the unescaped strings you want to get escaped and you already use Newtonsoft.Jsonin your project (it has a pretty large overhead) you may use this package like the following:

using System;
using Newtonsoft.Json;

public class Program
{
    public static void Main()
    {
    Console.WriteLine(ToLiteral( @"abc\n123") );
    }

    private static string ToLiteral(string input){
        return JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<string>("\"" + input + "\"");
    }
}

Answer 2

public static class StringHelpers
{
    private static Dictionary<string, string> escapeMapping = new Dictionary<string, string>()
    {
        {"\"", @"\\\"""},
        {"\\\\", @"\\"},
        {"\a", @"\a"},
        {"\b", @"\b"},
        {"\f", @"\f"},
        {"\n", @"\n"},
        {"\r", @"\r"},
        {"\t", @"\t"},
        {"\v", @"\v"},
        {"\0", @"\0"},
    };

    private static Regex escapeRegex = new Regex(string.Join("|", escapeMapping.Keys.ToArray()));

    public static string Escape(this string s)
    {
        return escapeRegex.Replace(s, EscapeMatchEval);
    }

    private static string EscapeMatchEval(Match m)
    {
        if (escapeMapping.ContainsKey(m.Value))
        {
            return escapeMapping[m.Value];
        }
        return escapeMapping[Regex.Escape(m.Value)];
    }
}

Answer 3

Hallgrim's answer is excellent, but the "+", newline and indent additions were breaking functionality for me. An easy way around it is:

private static string ToLiteral(string input)
{
    using (var writer = new StringWriter())
    {
        using (var provider = CodeDomProvider.CreateProvider("CSharp"))
        {
            provider.GenerateCodeFromExpression(new CodePrimitiveExpression(input), writer, new CodeGeneratorOptions {IndentString = "\t"});
            var literal = writer.ToString();
            literal = literal.Replace(string.Format("\" +{0}\t\"", Environment.NewLine), "");
            return literal;
        }
    }
}

Answer 4

public static class StringEscape
{
  static char[] toEscape = "\0\x1\x2\x3\x4\x5\x6\a\b\t\n\v\f\r\xe\xf\x10\x11\x12\x13\x14\x15\x16\x17\x18\x19\x1a\x1b\x1c\x1d\x1e\x1f\"\\".ToCharArray();
  static string[] literals = @"\0,\x0001,\x0002,\x0003,\x0004,\x0005,\x0006,\a,\b,\t,\n,\v,\f,\r,\x000e,\x000f,\x0010,\x0011,\x0012,\x0013,\x0014,\x0015,\x0016,\x0017,\x0018,\x0019,\x001a,\x001b,\x001c,\x001d,\x001e,\x001f".Split(new char[] { ',' });

  public static string Escape(this string input)
  {
    int i = input.IndexOfAny(toEscape);
    if (i < 0) return input;

    var sb = new System.Text.StringBuilder(input.Length + 5);
    int j = 0;
    do
    {
      sb.Append(input, j, i - j);
      var c = input[i];
      if (c < 0x20) sb.Append(literals[c]); else sb.Append(@"\").Append(c);
    } while ((i = input.IndexOfAny(toEscape, j = ++i)) > 0);

    return sb.Append(input, j, input.Length - j).ToString();
  }
}

Answer 5

Fully working implementation, including escaping of Unicode and ASCII non printable characters. Does not insert "+" signs like Hallgrim's answer.

    static string ToLiteral(string input) {
        StringBuilder literal = new StringBuilder(input.Length + 2);
        literal.Append("\"");
        foreach (var c in input) {
            switch (c) {
                case '\'': literal.Append(@"\'"); break;
                case '\"': literal.Append("\\\""); break;
                case '\\': literal.Append(@"\\"); break;
                case '\0': literal.Append(@"\0"); break;
                case '\a': literal.Append(@"\a"); break;
                case '\b': literal.Append(@"\b"); break;
                case '\f': literal.Append(@"\f"); break;
                case '\n': literal.Append(@"\n"); break;
                case '\r': literal.Append(@"\r"); break;
                case '\t': literal.Append(@"\t"); break;
                case '\v': literal.Append(@"\v"); break;
                default:
                    // ASCII printable character
                    if (c >= 0x20 && c <= 0x7e) {
                        literal.Append(c);
                    // As UTF16 escaped character
                    } else {
                        literal.Append(@"\u");
                        literal.Append(((int)c).ToString("x4"));
                    }
                    break;
            }
        }
        literal.Append("\"");
        return literal.ToString();
    }

Answer 6

Interesting question.

If you can't find a better method, you can always replace.
In case you're opting for it, you could use this C# Escape Sequence List:

• \' - single quote, needed for character literals
• \" - double quote, needed for string literals
• \ - backslash
• \0 - Unicode character 0
• \a - Alert (character 7)
• \b - Backspace (character 8)
• \f - Form feed (character 12)
• \n - New line (character 10)
• \r - Carriage return (character 13)
• \t - Horizontal tab (character 9)
• \v - Vertical quote (character 11)
• \uxxxx - Unicode escape sequence for character with hex value xxxx
• \xn[n][n][n] - Unicode escape sequence for character with hex value nnnn (variable length version of \uxxxx)
• \Uxxxxxxxx - Unicode escape sequence for character with hex value xxxxxxxx (for generating surrogates)

This list can be found in the C# Frequently Asked Questions What character escape sequences are available?