How to Fix “AttributeError: ‘Str’ Object Has no Attribute ‘Decode'” in Python?

 If you are a python programmer facing the issue of AttributeError: ‘str’ object has no attribute ‘decode’, then you are in the right spot; keep reading. 🧐

In this post, we will discuss what an AttributeError is. When does the AttributeError: ‘str’ object has no attribute ‘decode’ occur? What is the ‘str’ object has no attribute ‘decode’? And how to fix it, so without further ado, let’s get right into the topic.

What is an AttributeError in Python?

AttributeError occurs when you reference an attribute of a module that doesn’t exist. These attributes can be a method or a variable in Python. Now let’s see an example to understand this error.

If we import random package and use its attribute randint with two parameters, 1 and 10, to show a random number in the range of  1 to 10.

Code

# import random 

import random

print (random.randint(1,10))

Output

9

This program doesn’t have any error because randint is an attribute of the random package, but if we write. 

Code

import random

random.oneto10()

Output

For our general guide catering to discussing what the AttributeError in Python is and general fixes for how one can resolve it, you can find it here.

When the AttributeError: ‘Str’ Object Has no Attribute ‘Decode’ Occurs?

The leading cause of the AttributeError: ‘str’ object has no attribute ‘decode’ is that decode is not an attribute of the str object. Decoding comes after encoding. If we call decode without encoding, it causes an error. For example, if we try to decode a string.

Code

print("Explaining decoding".decode())

Output

Before moving toward a solution, we must understand decode and encode and how we can use them in our program.

What Are Encoding and Decoding?

Encoding is converting strings into bytes. On the other hand, decoding means converting back bytes into strings. We use encode()  for encoding and decode() for decoding in Python. The encode() method takes two parameters encoding type and errors. 

The general syntax of encoding

encode(encoding, errors)

Encode () has two parameters, and both are optional. If we don’t pass the encoding type, then the default type for encoding is utf-8. Encoding tells encoding types, for example, utf-8, ascii, utf-16, etc. 

Code

myStr = “Encode Example”.encode('utf-8', 'strict')

print (myStr)

Output

B ‘Encode Example’

We use the decode() method for decoding. This method also takes two parameters.

The general syntax of decoding:

decode(encoding, errors)

Code

myStr = “Encode Example”.encode('utf-8', 'strict')

print (myStr.decode('utf-8', 'strict'))

Output

Encode Example

Reasons For the “AttributeError: ‘Str’ Object Has no Attribute ‘Decode'” Error in Python

The following are the reasons why this error occurs.

1. The Python version is not upgraded.
2. You are decoding a string that is already decoded.
3. Use decoding without using encoding.
4. The specified object cannot access the decode() method.

How to Fix the “AttributeError: ‘Str’ Object Has no Attribute ‘Decode'” Error in Python?

To ignore the  “AttributeError: ‘str’ object has no attribute ‘decode'” in your Python code, you must first check if you are using the python 2.x versions, then upgrade it to 3.x.

Still, if you are facing the AttributeError, you are not encoding the string. You have to encode the string first then you can decode it. 

Let’s understand this concept using a practical example.

Code

# how to use the decode function

#intialize a string you want to encode and decode

myStr = "how to use decode function"

#encoding of myStr variable into bytes

myStr = myStr.encode('utf-16', 'strict')

print ("Encoded Bytes")

print (myStr)



print ("Decoded String")

#decode bytes into a string

print (myStr.decode('utf-16','strict'))

Output

Encoded Bytes

b'\xff\xfeh\x00o\x00w\x00 \x00t\x00o\x00 \x00u\x00s\x00e\x00 \x00d\x00e\x00c\x00o\x00d\x00e\x00 \x00f\x00u\x00n\x00c\x00t\x00i\x00o\x00n\x00'

Decoded String

how to use the decode function

Conclusion

To summarize the article on how to fix the AttributeError: ‘str’ object has no attribute ‘decode’, we’ve discussed what in encoding and decoding in Python. In addition to that, we’ve talked about why the AttributeError: ‘str’ object has no attribute ‘decode’ occurs and how to fix it.

The main reasons for this error would be that we didn’t upgrade to version 3 or we are decoding already decoded bytes. All the reasons and situations are explained clearly.

Congratulations 🥳! To successfully make your python program free from AttributeError: ‘str’ object has no attribute ‘decode’ error.

A quick question, how to decode a collection of ASCII bytes in Python?