python - How to write Russian characters in file?

Question

In console when I'm trying output Russian characters It gives me ???????????????

Who know why?

I tried write to file - in this case the same situation.

for example

f=open('tets.txt','w')
f.write('some russian text')
f.close

inside file is - ?????????????????????????/

or

p="some russian text"
print p
?????????????

In additional Notepad don't allow me to save file with Russian letters. I give this:

This file contains characters in Unicode format which will be lost if you save this file as an ANSI encoded text file. To keep the Unicode information, click Cancel below and then select one of the Unicode options from the Encoding drop down list. Continue?

How to adjust my system, so I will don't have this problems.

Answer 1

Here is a worked-out example, please read the comments:

#!/usr/bin/env python2
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
# The above encoding declaration is required and the file must be saved as UTF-8

from __future__ import with_statement   # Not required in Python 2.6 any more

import codecs

p = u"абвгдежзийкл"  # note the 'u' prefix

print p   # probably won't work on Windows due to a complex issue

with codecs.open("tets.txt", "w", "utf-16") as stream:   # or utf-8
    stream.write(p + u"
")

# Now you should have a file called "tets.txt" that can be opened with Notepad or any other editor