# Sending UDP message with backslash
**URL:** https://discourse.nodered.org/t/sending-udp-message-with-backslash/79876
**Category:** General
**Created:** [17 July 2023 10:40 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/sending-udp-message-with-backslash/79876 "2023-07-17T10:40:40Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@chris3](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/chris3)
#### Post date: [17 July 2023 10:40 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/sending-udp-message-with-backslash/79876/1 "2023-07-17T10:40:40Z")
Hello,
I'm trying to send the following UDP message in Node-Red:
\apple
But the UDP message being received by the server is:
\\apple
I've been pulling my hair out for a couple of hours trying to come up with a fix and am still struggling. Could anyone help with a solution to this?
Chris
---
### Author:  [@cymplecy](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/cymplecy)
#### Post date: [17 July 2023 15:04 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/sending-udp-message-with-backslash/79876/2 "2023-07-17T15:04:09Z")
just tried a simple test sending to/from same machine and that seems to work OK
Does a simple local test work for you?
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### Author:  [@chris3](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/chris3)
#### Post date: [17 July 2023 15:10 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/sending-udp-message-with-backslash/79876/3 "2023-07-17T15:10:23Z")
Hi cymplecy,
This is the same behaviour as I get in the node-red gui. But when I recieve the packet in PacketSender an additional backslash has been added (screenshots below).
I have, however come up with a solution in that I am using a function to generate the message in hex and then send it in hex. This has solved my problem and is giving the desired result:
```auto
var hexString = "5C6170706C65"; // Hexadecimal string to send
var buffer = Buffer.from(hexString, 'hex');
msg.payload = buffer;
return msg;
```
Chris
---
### Author:  [@Colin](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Colin)
#### Post date: [17 July 2023 15:46 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/sending-udp-message-with-backslash/79876/4 "2023-07-17T15:46:08Z")
If you look at the Hex display in your screenshot you will see that the second `\` does not actually exist. My guess is that it is being escaped on the display. What does that display look like when you send it as hex?
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### Author:  [@chris3](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/chris3)
#### Post date: [17 July 2023 15:58 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/sending-udp-message-with-backslash/79876/5 "2023-07-17T15:58:41Z")
Well spotted!! I hadn't noticed that.
I'm sending the string as hex now and the ascii is displaying correctly with just the single backslash.
Chris
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### Author:  [@Colin](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Colin)
#### Post date: [17 July 2023 16:00 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/sending-udp-message-with-backslash/79876/6 "2023-07-17T16:00:50Z")
Interesting, and confusing.
---
### Author:  [@dceejay](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/dceejay)
#### Post date: [17 July 2023 18:22 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/sending-udp-message-with-backslash/79876/7 "2023-07-17T18:22:57Z")
If you use the inject node to inject a string then it will escape the \ by adding another \ so `\apple` becomes `\\apple` - same as if you try to send `hello\n` to add a carriage return it will send `hello\\n` as a string... and not with a carriage return character that you want.
You can get round this by setting it to send Json (J) mode instead of String mode - as then `"\apple"` (now you have to add quotes as well to make it valid JSON) - will then get sent correctly
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### Author:  [@system](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/system)
#### Post date: [15 September 2023 18:23 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/sending-udp-message-with-backslash/79876/8 "2023-09-15T18:23:16Z")
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