To string with encoding

doc/source/whatsnew/v1.0.0.rst

@@ -109,6 +109,7 @@ Other enhancements
   (:issue:`28368`)
 - :meth:`DataFrame.to_json` now accepts an ``indent`` integer argument to enable pretty printing of JSON output (:issue:`12004`)
 - :meth:`read_stata` can read Stata 119 dta files. (:issue:`28250`)
+- Added ``encoding`` argument to :meth:`DataFrame.to_string` for non-ascii text (:issue:`28766`)
 
 Build Changes
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^

pandas/core/frame.py

@@ -744,6 +744,7 @@ def to_string(
         decimal: str = ".",
         line_width: Optional[int] = None,
         max_colwidth: Optional[int] = None,
+        encoding=None,
     ) -> Optional[str]:
         """
         Render a DataFrame to a console-friendly tabular output.
@@ -754,6 +755,10 @@ def to_string(
             Max width to truncate each column in characters. By default, no limit.
 
             .. versionadded:: 1.0.0
+        encoding : str, default "utf-8"
+            Set character encoding.
+
+            .. versionadded:: 1.0
         %(returns)s
         See Also
         --------
@@ -792,7 +797,7 @@ def to_string(
                 decimal=decimal,
                 line_width=line_width,
             )
-            return formatter.to_string(buf=buf)
+            return formatter.to_string(buf=buf, encoding=encoding)
 
     # ----------------------------------------------------------------------
 

pandas/io/formats/format.py

@@ -895,8 +895,12 @@ def _join_multiline(self, *args) -> str:
             st = ed
         return "\n\n".join(str_lst)
 
-    def to_string(self, buf: Optional[FilePathOrBuffer[str]] = None) -> Optional[str]:
-        return self.get_result(buf=buf)
+    def to_string(
+        self,
+        buf: Optional[FilePathOrBuffer[str]] = None,
+        encoding: Optional[str] = None,
+    ) -> Optional[str]:
+        return self.get_result(buf=buf, encoding=encoding)
 
     def to_latex(
         self,

pandas/tests/io/formats/test_to_string.py

@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+def test_to_string_encoding(float_frame,):
+    # GH 28766
+    path = "test_to_string_file"
+    float_frame.to_string(path, encoding="gbk")
+    with open(str(path), "r", encoding="gbk") as f:
+        assert float_frame.to_string() == f.read()