# File: re-example-5.py

import re
import string

text = "a line of text\\012another line of text\\012etc..."

def octal(match):
    # replace octal code with corresponding ASCII character
    return chr(string.atoi(match.group(1), 8))

octal_pattern = re.compile(r"\\(\d\d\d)")

print text
print octal_pattern.sub(octal, text)