UnicodeDecodeError when file path of keras model contains an umlaut such as 'ü'
Hi **@Steffenhir** ,
Sorry for the delay, This issue arises because the default encoding used by the file I/O functions in python is 'utf-8', and the path contains characters that cannot be decoded using this encoding.
To resolve this issue, you can try specifying the encoding explicitly when providing the file path.
```
import tensorflow as tf

AI_dir = r'C:/Users/steff/Desktop/background/Background_extraction/ü/weights_G_RGB.keras'
model = tf.keras.models.load_model(AI_dir, compile=False)
```

In this example, the 'r' prefix before the string (raw string) indicates that the string should be treated as a raw string literal, and this can sometimes help with special characters in file paths.

Thank you! Hi @Venkat6871,
thank you for your help! Unfortunately, putting the 'r' prefix in front of the string does not help and I get the same error. Do you have another idea how I could solve this problem? I get the same error when using a pathlib.path object as an argument Hi @Steffenhir,
I've been looking into issue [#62691](https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/issues/62691) regarding the UnicodeDecodeError with non-UTF-8 characters in file paths. 

After reviewing the related code in file_io.py, I believe I have a potential solution that could address this issue. The main idea revolves around modifying the FileIO class to handle file paths with a broader range of character encodings, especially on Windows where UTF-8 is not the default encoding. Here are the key points of the proposed solution:

Adaptive Default Encoding: Conditionally set the default encoding based on the operating system. For instance, using 'mbcs' for Windows, which is more accommodating for such characters.

Graceful Handling of Encoding Errors: Implement a fallback mechanism in the _prepare_value method to try alternative encodings if a UnicodeEncodeError is encountered.

If this approach seems viable, I'd be keen to work on it. Could you consider assigning me to this task, or would you like to discuss this further? Hi **@Steffenhir**,

Could you try this once,
````
import tensorflow as tf

# File path with non-ASCII characters (e.g., 'ü')
AI_dir = 'C:/Users/steff/Desktop/background/Background_extraction/ü/weights_G_RGB.keras'

# Load the model with explicit encoding (e.g., 'latin1')
model = tf.keras.models.load_model(AI_dir, compile=False, custom_objects=None, options=None, file_content=None, encoding='latin1')

# Now you can use the loaded model
````
By adding the encoding='latin1' parameter to the load_model function, you can specify a different encoding that handles non-ASCII characters correctly. In this example, 'latin1' is used, but you may also try other encodings if needed. Additionally, the compile, custom_objects, options, and file_content parameters are included for completeness; you can adjust them based on your specific use case.

Thank you! Hi @Venkat6871,
when I specify the encoding with the encoding parameter, that is
```
model = tf.keras.models.load_model(AI_dir, compile=False, encoding='latin1')
```
I get the error:
```
2023-12-29 10:25:17,229 MainProcess root ERROR    load_model() got an unexpected keyword argument 'encoding'
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\steff\Desktop\background\Background_extraction\GraXpert\graxpert\application\app.py", line 141, in on_calculate_request
    extract_background(
  File "C:\Users\steff\Desktop\background\Background_extraction\GraXpert\graxpert\background_extraction.py", line 74, in extract_background
    model = tf.keras.models.load_model(AI_dir, compile=False, encoding='latin1')
  File "C:\Users\steff\anaconda3\envs\graxpert\lib\site-packages\keras\src\saving\saving_api.py", line 238, in load_model
    return legacy_sm_saving_lib.load_model(
  File "C:\Users\steff\anaconda3\envs\graxpert\lib\site-packages\keras\src\utils\traceback_utils.py", line 70, in error_handler
    raise e.with_traceback(filtered_tb) from None
  File "C:\Users\steff\anaconda3\envs\graxpert\lib\site-packages\keras\src\utils\traceback_utils.py", line 65, in error_handler
    return fn(*args, **kwargs)
TypeError: load_model() got an unexpected keyword argument 'encoding'
```

When I specify all parameters as in your example, I get the same error for the unexpected keyword 'file_content'.

I think @printROSHN's proposal makes sense for Windows users and would be nice to have!
 With the tensorflow.saved_model.load API I can load models from directories which contain special characters such as german umlauts Hi @Steffenhir ,

Could you try encoding the the string `AI_dir` first to `utf-8 ` like this below snippet.

```
AI_dir = "C:/Users/steff/Desktop/background/Background_extraction/ü/weights_G_RGB.keras"
AI_dir = AI_dir.encode('utf-8')
model = tf.keras.models.load_model(AI_dir)
```

 This issue is stale because it has been open for 7 days with no activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Thank you. Hey @Steffenhir ,

If this issue is still unresolved, I would like to attempt to address it.

Thanks. This issue was closed because it has been inactive for 7 days since being marked as stale. Please reopen if you'd like to work on this further. Are you satisfied with the resolution of your issue?
<a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfaP12TRhd9xSxjXZjcZFNXPGk4kc1-qMdv3gc6bEP90vY1ew/viewform?entry.85265664=Yes&entry.2137816233=https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/issues/62691">Yes</a>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfaP12TRhd9xSxjXZjcZFNXPGk4kc1-qMdv3gc6bEP90vY1ew/viewform?entry.85265664=No&entry.2137816233=https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/issues/62691">No</a>

### Issue type

Bug

### Have you reproduced the bug with TensorFlow Nightly?

No

### Source

source

### TensorFlow version

2.10

### Custom code

Yes

### OS platform and distribution

Windows 10

### Mobile device

_No response_

### Python version

3.10

### Bazel version

_No response_

### GCC/compiler version

_No response_

### CUDA/cuDNN version

_No response_

### GPU model and memory

_No response_

### Current behavior?

Hi, when I try to load a keras model with the tf.keras.models.load_model(file_path) method, I get an error when the file path to my .keras model contains an umlaut such as 'ü'

### Standalone code to reproduce the issue

```shell
AI_dir = 'C:/Users/steff/Desktop/background/Background_extraction/ü/weights_G_RGB.keras'
model = tf.keras.models.load_model(AI_dir)
```


### Relevant log output

```shell
2023-12-25 11:28:14,472 MainProcess root ERROR    'utf-8' codec can't decode byte 0xfc in position 60: invalid start byte
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\steff\Desktop\background\Background_extraction\GraXpert\graxpert\application\app.py", line 141, in on_calculate_request
    extract_background(
  File "C:\Users\steff\Desktop\background\Background_extraction\GraXpert\graxpert\background_extraction.py", line 72, in extract_background
    model = tf.keras.models.load_model(AI_dir)
  File "C:\Users\steff\anaconda3\envs\graxpert\lib\site-packages\keras\src\saving\saving_api.py", line 238, in load_model
    return legacy_sm_saving_lib.load_model(
  File "C:\Users\steff\anaconda3\envs\graxpert\lib\site-packages\keras\src\utils\traceback_utils.py", line 70, in error_handler
    raise e.with_traceback(filtered_tb) from None
  File "C:\Users\steff\anaconda3\envs\graxpert\lib\site-packages\tensorflow\python\lib\io\file_io.py", line 703, in is_directory_v2
    return _pywrap_file_io.IsDirectory(compat.path_to_bytes(path))
UnicodeDecodeError: 'utf-8' codec can't decode byte 0xfc in position 60: invalid start byte
```
