Manipulating strings containing backslash

Question

I'm trying to implement some code that downloads files from some webpages.

I am using the built-in functions Import and StringReplace.

I found that when I import a url that contain blanks I need to replace them with %20, however in some strings "\" appears suddenly.

For example,

StringReplace[http://ww.aaa.com/asd/dfh asda asd.pdf, " " -> "%20"]

I expect this to give "http://www.aaa.com/asd/dfh%20asda%20asd.pdf".

Using this string with FetchURL, I try to download the file but it does not work.

I found that when I copy the same string and paste it somewhere, it looks like:

http://www.aaa.com/asd/dfh%20asda%20asd.\pdf

I suspect that the "\" is causing the problem. What's the proper way to deal with "\" characters here?

Answer 1

Example:

URLSave @ "http://geniusquotes.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/The-quieter-you-become.jpg"

Reference:

URLSave

Tutorial:

Web Operations

Answer 2

You might try two possibilities (or both) and let me know if the problem persists:

arg = "your string";

str1 = StringReplace[ToString[arg], "\[Continuation] " -> ""];

str2 = ImportString[ExportString[str1, "Text"], "Text"];

Do str1 or str2 still contain the symbol you see?