Thanks for all the help, everyone - the raw string solution seems the
most practical, and it raises one final question: If I define a string
x = "c:\python23\programs\test.txt"
How can I force open() or file() to treat it as a raw string. I expect
to use a command of the form
open(rx) or open(r"x") or open("r"+x)
but none of these forms work.