# tf.compat.as_text

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| [![](https://www.tensorflow.org/images/GitHub-Mark-32px.png) View source on GitHub](https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/v2.13.1/tensorflow/python/util/compat.py#L89-L112) |

Converts any string-like python input types to unicode.

#### View aliases


**Compat aliases for migration**

See
[Migration guide](https://www.tensorflow.org/guide/migrate) for
more details.

[`tf.compat.v1.compat.as_text`](https://www.tensorflow.org/api_docs/python/tf/compat/as_text)

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    tf.compat.as_text(
        bytes_or_text, encoding='utf-8'
    )

Returns the input as a unicode string. Uses utf-8 encoding for text
by default.

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| ## Args ||
|---|---|
| `bytes_or_text` | A `bytes`, `str`, or `unicode` object. |
| `encoding` | A string indicating the charset for decoding unicode. |

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| ## Returns ||
|---|---|
| A `unicode` (Python 2) or `str` (Python 3) object. ||

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| ## Raises ||
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| `TypeError` | If `bytes_or_text` is not a binary or unicode string. |

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