arcpy - Python workspace

I wrote a simple script to rename about 15 shapefiles in a folder on our local server. When I tested it I was working on a workspace on the C:\ and it worked fine. All our data is on a local server and when I changed the pathname to (... arcpy.env.workspace = "P:\Alabama\Export") it did not work. I eventually have to use 20 or so diff paths so I don't want to have to copy data to my c drive.

As I read through examples they all seem to use something on C:.

I am running it in the Python window in ArcCatalog not on an IDE

Sample:

import arcpy

arcpy.env.workspace = "P:\Alabama\Export"


 if arcpy.Exists("Histori2.shp"):
    arcpy.Rename_management("Histori2.shp", "H_BEV_CANS.shp")

 if arcpy.Exists("Histori3.shp"):
     arcpy.Rename_management("Histori3.shp", "H_CANS.shp")

Answer

In Python, the backslash character is treated as an escape character. \n is the newline character, \t is a tab....

There are a few different ways you can get it to work:

1. Change your backslashes to forward slashes (Python accepts either). "P:/Alabama/Export"


2. Double your backslashes (escape the escape). "P:\\Alabama\\Export"


3. Format as raw string (escape characters are ignored). r"P:\Alabama\Export"