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On Windows NT, 2000, and XP, the system stores file names as Unicode
strings. Traditionally, Python has represented file names as byte
strings, which is inadequate because it renders some file names
inaccessible.
Python now allows using arbitrary Unicode strings (within the
limitations of the file system) for all functions that expect file
names, most notably the open() built-in function. If a Unicode
string is passed to os.listdir(), Python now returns a list
of Unicode strings. A new function, os.getcwdu(), returns
the current directory as a Unicode string.
Byte strings still work as file names, and on Windows Python will
transparently convert them to Unicode using the mbcs encoding.
Other systems also allow Unicode strings as file names but convert
them to byte strings before passing them to the system, which can
cause a UnicodeError to be raised. Applications can test
whether arbitrary Unicode strings are supported as file names by
checking os.path.supports_unicode_filenames, a Boolean value.
Under MacOS, os.listdir() may now return Unicode filenames.
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